Undergraduate
Saint Michael's Early Learning Center for Children aged six weeks to six years celebrates its new building
A bright new center for the youngest members of the Saint Michael's community
Contact Information:
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
"We are so grateful that President Neuhauser and the college went ahead and moved us into this new building, even when the bottom fell out of the economy," said Sue Treadwell, director of the Saint Michael's College Early Learning Center.
The Center was moved into renovated space located at 76 King Street (just off Ethan Allen Avenue) in Fort Ethan Allen, on the North Campus of Saint Michael's College last winter. The college celebrated and blessed the center and the new building on July 29.
The Early Learning Center provides day care for 45 to 50 children, never more than 40 each day. They are children of Saint Michael's employees and some others, as space permits. The Center defines itself as "developmentally oriented for children aged six weeks to six years; it seeks to provide an environment in which children reach their full potential."
The center has been a valuable resource for Saint Michael's employees for 27 years, providing exceptional care and education for young children. It has also been a learning opportunity for college students studying early childhood education, who can observe and/or work in the center.
David Cutler, Saint Michael's director of facility management, oversaw revamping the space into 2,226 square feet of bright, well-lit, above ground space, divided into six rooms and three bathrooms. To ready the space for the children, the interior walls were refinished, a kitchen and bathroom were added, and several small office spaces were removed to create larger rooms. A fenced playground was added, and the electrical and mechanical systems were revamped.
"The new building is a vast improvement for the children and the staff over the below-ground space we occupied for our first 27 years as a child care center," said Sue Treadwell, center director. "We so much appreciate the college making this statement that they value the children and their teachers such that they made the new facility happen-even during this recession," Ms. Treadwell said.
The new space allows for natural light, easier egress, especially for babies, and provides much more functional spaces, the director said. By being able to separate the preschoolers (18 children) and the one-to-three year olds (15 children), there is less overall noise and better educational opportunities than when 33 children are in one space.
And the center is no longer located beneath a college residence hall. "I am sure this works better for everyone, as far as noise is concerned," Ms. Treadwell said.
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 371 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
Buff Lindau, Public Relations
802.654.2536
blindau@smcvt.edu
"We are so grateful that President Neuhauser and the college went ahead and moved us into this new building, even when the bottom fell out of the economy," said Sue Treadwell, director of the Saint Michael's College Early Learning Center.
The Center was moved into renovated space located at 76 King Street (just off Ethan Allen Avenue) in Fort Ethan Allen, on the North Campus of Saint Michael's College last winter. The college celebrated and blessed the center and the new building on July 29.
The Early Learning Center provides day care for 45 to 50 children, never more than 40 each day. They are children of Saint Michael's employees and some others, as space permits. The Center defines itself as "developmentally oriented for children aged six weeks to six years; it seeks to provide an environment in which children reach their full potential."
The center has been a valuable resource for Saint Michael's employees for 27 years, providing exceptional care and education for young children. It has also been a learning opportunity for college students studying early childhood education, who can observe and/or work in the center.
David Cutler, Saint Michael's director of facility management, oversaw revamping the space into 2,226 square feet of bright, well-lit, above ground space, divided into six rooms and three bathrooms. To ready the space for the children, the interior walls were refinished, a kitchen and bathroom were added, and several small office spaces were removed to create larger rooms. A fenced playground was added, and the electrical and mechanical systems were revamped.
"The new building is a vast improvement for the children and the staff over the below-ground space we occupied for our first 27 years as a child care center," said Sue Treadwell, center director. "We so much appreciate the college making this statement that they value the children and their teachers such that they made the new facility happen-even during this recession," Ms. Treadwell said.
The new space allows for natural light, easier egress, especially for babies, and provides much more functional spaces, the director said. By being able to separate the preschoolers (18 children) and the one-to-three year olds (15 children), there is less overall noise and better educational opportunities than when 33 children are in one space.
And the center is no longer located beneath a college residence hall. "I am sure this works better for everyone, as far as noise is concerned," Ms. Treadwell said.
Saint Michael's College, founded in 1904 by the Society of St. Edmund and headed by President John J. Neuhauser, is identified by the Princeton Review as one of the nation's Best 371 Colleges. A liberal arts, residential, Catholic college, Saint Michael's is located just outside of Burlington, Vermont, one of America's top college towns and less than two hours from Montreal. As one of only 270 institutions nationwide with a prestigious Phi Beta Kappa chapter on campus, Saint Michael's has 2,000 full-time undergraduate students, some 500 graduate students and 200 international students. In recent years Saint Michael's students and professors have received Rhodes, Woodrow Wilson, Guggenheim, Fulbright, National Science Foundation and other grants, and Saint Michael's professors have been named Vermont Professor of the Year in four of the last eight years. The college is currently listed as one of the nation's Best Liberal Arts Colleges in the 2009 U.S. News & World Report rankings.
