State funding to help build child development center
Cerritos College received a check for $782,000 in state funding on Tuesday from Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco to support the construction of its Child Development Center and to expand the center's child care services and more.
Cerritos College officials have been trying to secure more funding to give the center a permanent structure on its campus, which is in Norwalk, as well as expand services, handson student training, and access to education to better serve our community, students, and student-parents.
For 50 years, the center has provided child care services for children 2 to 4 years old and focuses on child-centered social education. It offers children the opportunity to learn through daily experiences with parents, teachers, peers, events and objects in the world, according to its website.
There is also an outdoor classroom demonstration site, with learning features based on the California landscape.
The center also benefits students who want to work in the educational field. Every semester, 60 students serve the children for laboratory fieldwork, according to a press release.
“We're going to continue to invest in our program, we want to expand our program and make sure that we have more access not only for our employees and students but for our community,” said Superintendent-President Jose Fierro at the event on Tuesday.
“For those of you who are familiar with the program, you know that there's a very long waitlist because of the quality of the program and the services we provide,” Fierro said. “We want to make sure that we can expand services to create more opportunities for members of our community and with the help of Assemblymember Blanca Pacheco we are that much closer to meeting that goal.”
During the event, officials highlighted the importance of the center's work.
“This center has been a valuable resource to students, college employees and the wider community, nurturing the growth and development of our youngest learners while offering support to families and individuals alike,” Pacheco said at the event.
In attendance at the event were the Cerritos College Board of Trustees, Cerritos College Foundation members, and mayors and council members from surrounding cities that the college serves. As well as Child Development Center teachers and staff, parents, and their children.
Inadequate access to affordable and quality child care is one of the barriers to education that is cited most often by student-parents. Providing child care has been linked to student success and faster completion times, according to a report by the Institute for Women's Policy Research.
“The Cerritos College Child Development Center is not merely a place where children are cared for, it is a place where dreams are nurtured and future generations are prepared to thrive,” said Pacheco, a Cerritos College alumna.
In gratitude for the assemblymember's support,
Nia Nelson and Rebecca Macias — children who attend Cerritos College's Child Development Center — presented Pacheco with gifts they had crafted, including a painting of her dog.
“We think children have the right to places and spaces to learn and grow,” said Debra Ward, director of the Child Development Center.
“This gift will support us to realize a new building constructed with children in mind where children can grow, develop, have fun and learn about the world around them,” Ward said. “On behalf of the children, the parents, the students, our teachers and the child development faculty, we thank you very much.”
The Child Development Center has been housed in temporary modular buildings for several years, since the campus's last renovation in 2015. Officials say that the funds provided by Pacheco will help get closer to that goal.
Cerritos College serves students within the college's district in southeastern Los Angeles County, which includes Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, La Mirada, Norwalk, and portions of Bell Gardens, Lakewood, Long Beach, Santa Fe Springs, and South Gate.
Recognizing the importance of investing in early childhood education is necessary, Pacheco said, and that the investment is a vital step to the future of the community.
“As we look forward, let's continue to support and champion the vital work of this center and in doing so we invest in the bright future of our children and all the educators who will guide them,” she said.