10/20/95
By Janet McCoy (mccoyjl@mail.auburn.edu)
DEDICATION OF AUBURN-OPERATED EARLY LEARNING CENTER OCT. 26
BIRMINGHAM -- Dedication of a national model child care facility will be Thursday, Oct. 26, at the Birmingham Early Learning Center, located in the city's historic Civil Rights District.
The official dedication of the center, established through a government- industry-education partnership, will begin with a 6:30 p.m. reception, followed by a 7 p.m. program featuring Auburn University President William V. Muse; Elmer B. Harris, president and chief executive officer of Alabama Power; Birmingham Mayor Richard Arrington Jr.; and John Porter, pastor of the Sixth Avenue Baptist Church.
The center is unique for several reasons, including its development, partnerships, central mission and philosophy.
The project originated from the Birmingham Urban Revitalization Partnership Inc. -- an effort by business and government officials to restore historic downtown Birmingham -- and was developed and financed by 12 Alabama corporations. The center is operated by AU's Department of Family and Child Development, housed in the School of Human Sciences.
The state-of-the-art facility will serve 214 children age six weeks to five years and is open to the children of the employees of the 10 corporate sponsors, says Janice Cotton, center director and assistant professor in AU's Department of Family and Child Development.
At full staff, the center will employ 30 full-time child care professionals, making it one of the top centers in Alabama in teacher-child ratio, with fewer than seven children per teacher.
Cotton says the center currently has 70 children enrolled with 20 full-time and three part-time faculty, all of whom hold college degrees in family child development or early childhood education, and six support staff and administrators.
The center's caregiving philosophy focuses on developmentally appropriate practices. "We believe in the philosophy that you have to know the young child and what is the typical behavior, growth and development of that age group," says Cotton, a public school educator/administrator for 20 years. "We also believe you have to take that typical information and then apply it in the classroom and each child individually.
"Every child is unique and their education must be individualized and at the same time be developmentally appropriate for the child's age," she said. "We focus on all areas of development in the child: physically, socially, emotionally and creatively."
To meet its goals, the center will seek accreditation from the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs, a division of the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which accredits only 2 percent of all child care facilities nationwide.
To achieve its educational mission, the center focuses on learning through playing, or learning by doing, says Robbie Roberts, assistant director of the center and an assistant professor in AU's Department of Family and Child Development.
"Every activity in the classroom and on the playground is rooted to promote creative learning, whether it's cooking in the child-size kitchen, where the child uses mathematics in measuring, to playing with blocks."
In addition to its central mission of educating preschoolers, the center will also provide opportunities for university faculty from Alabama and the nation to conduct research.
Marilyn Bradbard, head of the Department of Curriculum and Teaching at AU, says the center will allow faculty to conduct crucial research in the study of children and their development without being obtrusive to the learning process.
In addition, the center will become an outreach facility to assist other child care facilities in the state. "This center is an example of the commitment made to improve the quality of child care in our community," Cotton said.
"We want the center to be a mentor for other child care providers and some preliminary work is beginning to develop plans for training sessions at the center."
oct95:AU-learncenter
CONTACT: Bradbard, 334/844-4151; Cotton or Roberts, 205/252-5060; or Dave Rickey at Alabama Power, 205/250-1517.
NOTE: The 12 Alabama corporations that are founding partners are: Alabama Power Co.; Alabama Power Foundation; AmSouth Bank of Alabama; Arthur Andersen & Co.; Balch & Bingham; Berkowitz, Lefkovits, Isom & Kushner, P.C.; the city of Birmingham; Compass Bank; First Alabama; Sonat, Inc.; Southern Company Services, Inc.; and SouthTrust Bank.