While finding quality, affordable childcare is difficult for many working parents, UB has helped to ease the burden for its students, faculty and staff by hosting a number of nationally accredited childcare options on campus.
The Early Childhood Research Center, located on North Campus, and the University at Buffalo Child Care Center (UBCCC), with sites on both campuses, provide care for a combined total of about 235 children in the UB community.
The UBCCC, situated on South Campus off Bailey Avenue and on North Campus near South Lake Village, offers a traditional daycare program that is typically closed to the public, with university members given preference over non-university applicants.
"This is a developmentally appropriate program," said UBCCC Director Tamar Jacobson. "We are NAECY (National Association for the Education of Young Children) accredited and our standards exceed both state and federal guidelines."
Operating on South Campus since 1985 and the North since 1998, UBCCC is a private, not-for-profit organization that focuses on early care and education of children. The staff consists of professional childcare workers, volunteers and university work-study participants, all of whom are carefully screened prior to hiring.
"The teachers are great and it's very convenient," said one father as he hurriedly placed his daughter in the car.
Children between the ages of six weeks and five years of age are accepted into the UBCCC and tuition is decided on a sliding scale based on the income of the parent or parents.
Students making less than $10,000 per year pay only $100 a week for the services provided between the hours of 7:15 a.m. and 5:45 p.m. Primary funding for the program comes from the tuition paid by parents, supplemented by grant monies received each year.
Food and snacks, naps, constructive play, and infant care are provided by the 35 teachers and staff, along with an individually appropriate curriculum for the 165 children enrolled in the program, incorporating art, music and stories into daily play.
The Early Childhood Research Center (ECRC), a less traditional childcare option, is a program that allows researchers to study the behavioral patterns and interactions of children between the ages of two and five.
Founded in 1979, with roots dating back to 1932, the ECRC is fully accredited by NAECY, one of the most stringent accreditation groups in the nation. The center is a division of the department of learning and instruction, a program within UB's Graduate School of Education.
ECRC is endowed by Fisher-Price and financed by tuition. Fees are based on a sliding scale, with payment arranged on an individual basis at the office located in 15 Baldy Hall.
The center exists not only to study its subjects, but also to stimulate and challenge the children involved with a series of educational and social activities.
According to Elaine Bartkowiak, associate director of the ECRC, parents bring their children from all over Western New York, but approximately half of the participants are children of university staff, faculty and students.
The ECRC is located on the bottom floor of Baldy Hall, and the outside playground below the Baldy walkway is reserved for the 70 to 75 children enrolled in the program each semester.
There are two rooms within the ECRC, both of which are fully visible from an observation room.
The larger of the two rooms is limited to the 2-year-old children only and provides a more "realistic" atmosphere, containing fewer stimuli than its counterpart.
"Two-year-old children need more space because they are developing their large muscle groups," said Bartkowiak. "They need their socio-dramatic area to be homelike."
The second room is for 3- to 5-year-olds, and contains more advanced educational toys and an abstract environment designed to challenge the children.
According to Bartkowiak, the older children have more of a need for smaller, detailed activities to engage their cognitive abilities. This setup allows for the "whole growth" of the children.
"It is a constructive program which derives its curriculum from the interests of the individual child," said Bartkowiak. "We provide a preschool experience where the focus is on children developing social, emotional, cognitive and physical skills through play. Play is learning and all children are ready to learn."
