How
do you celebrate a first birthday? With a party, of course, complete with cake,
a candle and little voices joining adult ones to sing
happy birthday. But in this case, the birthday star is the
Rutgers-Newark Child Care Center.
WHO: Children (in
Halloween costumes) and staff from the Child Care Center, parents, and invited
guests from Rutgers-Newark and the Newark community.
WHAT: A celebration to mark the first year of
operation of the Child Care Center which serves 30 children of students,
faculty and staff at Rutgers-Newark. Following greetings and some remarks, the
ceremony will include a rendition of “happy birthday” and other songs by the children,
and a release of balloons. Tours of the center will be available.
WHEN: Oct. 31, 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m.
WHERE: Rutgers-Newark
Child Care Center, 75 Halsey St., Newark NJ
BACKGROUND: The Child Care Center, a state-licensed
facility offering full-time care for children of R-N students, staff and
faculty, opened in September 2011. The
year-round
center is also open evenings to accommodate faculty and students who teach and
attend class in the evenings and need extended child care options. Catholic Charities, an experienced provider
of child care in the state, was selected through competitive bidding to operate
the center, which incorporates a research-based curriculum coordinated with the
Rutgers-Newark Department of Psychology and the Rutgers College of Nursing. SEE
FACT SHEET (attached)
MEDIA
CONTACT: Carla Capizzi, 973/353-5263,
capizzi@andromeda.rutgers.edu
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THE RUTGERS NEWARK CHILD
CARE CENTER AT ONE YEAR OLD
·
The
center, which cares for 30 children ages 2 ½ -5, serves primarily Rutgers
Newark students faculty, staff and alumni.
It is at full capacity for day sessions and also provides evening
care.
·
Full-time
students who are eligible for Pell grants are can apply for special federal
department of Education grants to help offset their child care needs while
attending classes at Rutgers Newark.
·
A
donation of computers from the Rutgers-Newark Psychology Department is
helping the children with on-line learning.
·
The
Center is affiliated with the Rutgers College of Nursing (CON) and the
Psychology Department in support of
clinical study and research that promotes an understanding of early
childhood. In fact, the Department has developed a lab course in Developmental
Psychology that allows select undergraduate students to engage in
community-based, experiential learning about early childhood
development. Students design and
conduct observational and experimental research with young children, both
at the Child Care Center and at Head Start sites in Newark. This course aims to provide its students
with knowledge, skills, and hands-on experience they will be able to use to
successfully generate and critically interpret original data on social,
cognitive, and emotional processes in children in the real-world context
within which development actually occurs.
·
CON
and the Rutgers Newark Child Care Center are a natural fit; undergraduate
and graduate nursing students are learning to provide evidence-based care
and health education and screenings for the children. The relationship is a
win-win: Nursing students gain relevant experience caring for young
children, and the center's children have access to high quality health
education and screening. Early
screening and detection of health problems can have a positive impact on a
child's life.
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