Assistants pulled a roomy wagon full of attentive toddlers on a stroll down Parkside Commons’ sidewalk, while other children played inside with activities that would help with the building blocks of life.
The Isabel Patterson Child Development Center, a division under Associated Students, Inc., has offered affordable childcare services to Cal State Long Beach since 1975.
Children of student parents are given priority at the Isabel Patterson Child Development Center, or CDC, but children of CSULB staff, faculty, alumni and the community are offered services as well.
“I’ve used [the center] for both my infant and toddler for six semesters and the program is amazing, so I feel comfortable leaving my kids here,” said Sarah Parkhill, sociology and women’s gender and sexuality double major.
“The CDC service provides affordable, early childhood and development services to a child whose parents are students,” said Director Rhonda Marikos, who has been working there for 34 years. “Many students with children wouldn’t be able to enroll without this service, too.”
Currently, there are 223 children registered. The center employs 60 part-time assistants — mostly students — and 16 full-time staff members who are trained and have certified credentials. The position requires a background check, up-to-date medical records and training before working closely with the children.
“As a child development major, work applies to what I’ve learned, but you can actually experience it here,” senior Mari Ieyoshi said.
According to the CDC website, the center is licensed by the Department of Social Services and accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
The center has a total budget of $1.3 million, most of which comes from sources such as government grants and user charges. According to ASI’s 2010-11 projected budget, $255,957 of the funding comes from student fees.
“The CDC has always been one of our crowning achievements as a student-run corporation, especially since this facility has been one of the models for many other universities across California,” said ASI President James Ahumada.
There are three different facilities, including the infant toddler, preschool and grammar school programs.
“If you stay here long enough,” said senior psychology major Anel Salas, “you get to watch the kids grow up and develop.”
The CDC main building was once a barn, but today it is fully transformed into an enriching resource center with different activity rooms that range from a quiet reading area to a science section. There are also designated spaces, such as the blue side for 2- and 3-year-olds, and the purple side for 4- and 5-year-olds.
“We set limits to ensure the kids are safe in their environment, so they’re allowed to go to these different activity centers as long as it doesn’t conflict with their safety,” said psychology graduate student and part-time assistant Dawn Altier.
Altier said children need to foster their sense of self-reliance in order to feel control in their lives. Then, she said, they can make decisions on their own.
The staff is trained to focus on each child’s strengths. In disciplining the children, they make sure to first recognize their emotion and then their need, according to Altier.
She said that children aren’t as aware of their intensions behind their actions, unlike adults.
“We don’t tell a child to ‘stop’ or ‘don’t do that,’ ” Altier said.
The center is located next to the Housing Office and Parkside Commons on Atherton Street.
“[The CDC is] such a treasure to have and know that [the children are] going to be guided and well-rounded,” Altier said.
The CDC is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m, Mondays through Fridays. For more information, visit csulb.edu/cdc.
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