3:12 p.m., Oct. 9, 2009----Nearly 300 people of all ages gathered in front of the University of Delaware's newly renovated building at 459 Wyoming Road on Thursday morning, Oct. 8, to watch as UD President Patrick T. Harker lifted his golden scissors, along with 20 children sporting blue plastic ones, to mark the grand opening of a new facility.

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But instead of the usual red ribbon, these scissors sliced through a blue-and-gold paper chain created by students and families at the University of Delaware Laboratory Preschool and The College School. Each link in the chain was inscribed with a wish for the schools as they begin operations in a home designed expressly to meet their programming needs.

Joining the University's Early Learning Center (ELC) at the complex on Wyoming Road, which has been informally dubbed the “Children's Campus,” the facilities bring together a critical mass of academic activities focused on children and families that involves several hundred University students and dozens of faculty from disciplines in six UD colleges.

“There are a number of reasons this campus is so special to the University of Delaware, none of them more important than the 400 children -- infants to teenagers -- to whom we dedicate it,” Harker said at the ceremony. “They will learn, and grow, and play here. They will do the work of being children here. And looking at them, it's hard to imagine a worthier cause or worthier beneficiaries.”

Citing the on-site training of aspiring teachers and the research in human development, educational strategies, and assistive and instructional technologies that takes place at the Children's Campus, Harker said, “This campus is a living laboratory, where research, training, and service align, and I can't imagine a more fertile environment for exceptional teaching and learning.”

A special tribute from the Delaware House of Representatives was presented by State Reps. Melanie George Marshall, co-founder of the Delaware General Assembly's Kids' Caucus, and John A. Kowalko Jr., in whose district the facility is located.

Following the ceremony, the audience was invited to tour the building. Construction of the facility was completed in August, just in time for the new school year. The two schools, formerly located in Alison Hall classrooms adapted for their use, finally have room to expand in their new 19,000-square-foot space.

The College School, which serves children in first through eighth grade who have been diagnosed with a variety of learning differences, has grown from six classrooms to nine, accommodating just over 100 students. The Lab Preschool, which serves 60-70 children, has expanded from two classrooms to three, so that the four-year-olds no longer have to share a classroom with the two- and three-year-olds.

The latest in educational technology has been integrated into the new facility. Teachers, researchers, UD students, and parents can observe Lab Preschool classes from booths equipped with controls for operating cameras and microphones located unobtrusively in the classrooms.

Classrooms in The College School feature interactive whiteboards, called SmartBoards, a technology that combines the capabilities of a whiteboard, overhead projector, computer monitor, and audio-visual screen, all under the control of the teacher's laptop. The school also provides a computer for each child in every classroom. The classroom for UD students in the building is also fully equipped with computer-controlled audio-visual equipment.

In addition to the bells and whistles, the schools' staffs are equally excited about the opportunities for nature study in the adjacent wetlands and along the city of Newark's James F. Hall Trail located nearby. They also hope to collaborate with the Cooperative Extension Master Gardeners who are headquartered next door. And students and teachers alike are enjoying the light and airy Art Atrium shared by the two schools, which seems to automatically inspire creativity.

“We are proud to be able to provide such a solid foundation for children and families in our area and serve as a model for other schools, preschools, and child care centers nationwide,” said Michael Gamel-McCormick, dean of the College of Education and Public Policy, which operates the three Children's Campus centers. He noted that together these centers form one of the largest and most well-equipped facilities devoted to studying children and families in the country.

“We remind ourselves often that long-term research shows that every dollar society spends on early care and education is repaid seven to ten times over in savings down the road, as the children grow up and reduce the need for government spending in welfare, health care, special education, and the criminal justice system,” he said.

Despite the shiny new facilities, the wish chain reveals that some students still see a few needs for their schools, from a music or foreign language instructor, to more computer software or books for the library. One preschool child expressed a desire for an ice cream stand in the parking lot. Well, it never hurts to ask.

Article by Beth Chajes
Photos by Ambre Alexander and Evan Krape