MISSION COLLEGE : Child Care Offered on Campus

For the first time, on-campus child care is available to Mission College students.

The college opened a child development center at its new Sylmar campus Feb. 3, the first day of this semester, said Alice Hernandez, the center’s director.

“In the past, we had open centers in churches and storefronts set up to meet the licensing agency requirements,” Hernandez said. “This one was given to us by the state and designed for the children.”

The center is located in a bungalow on the campus, at 13358 Eldridge Ave.

A child-care center was first established in 1975 when Mission College opened in temporary headquarters in San Fernando. The college moved to its permanent campus in September, but the center was not opened because administrators were waiting for the new bungalow to meet state licensing requirements.

The center provides arts and crafts, language, music, science, multicultural activities and other programs to 27 youngsters. Children of full-time students are eligible for admission and, if space remains, children of college staff members and the community will be accepted.

“The students get preference, of course, because that’s the whole idea to keep them in school and get work experience,” Hernandez said.

The center accepts youngsters between 2 years, 9 months and 5 years old. Fees are based on the parent’s ability to pay. They range from 75 cents to $2 an hour for students and are $2.25 an hour for the community. Two teachers and eight student assistants keep the center’s child-to-adult ratio at three to one.

Parents can bring their children to the center from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday and between 7:30 and 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Openings still remain in the evening after 3 p.m., but there is a waiting list for the morning program, Hernandez said.

Hernandez hopes that the center can move out of the bungalow to a more permanent location on campus, allowing the facility to accommodate 60 children.

The bungalow is currently being leased from the state.

Meanwhile, Hernandez said she believes the children at the center will gain just as much knowledge, if not more, as their parents who attend college.

“These are the formative years,” she said. “Seventy-five percent of all learning takes place before the age of 5.”