Reach Beyond - The Campaign for Onondaga Community College - Goals of the Campaign

Children’s Learning Center

Research shows that access to affordable child care is the single most important factor in a student-parent’s decision to enroll in college, and contributes greatly to their academic success. The Children's Learning Center at Onondaga Community College has been giving student-parents the chance to pursue a degree, upgrade skills, prepare for a career change, or simply better their lives for more than three decades. Through its close association with the college’s Human Services and Teacher Education Department, the Children’s Learning Center also serves as an innovative, hands-on laboratory for students enrolled in Onondaga’s Early Childhood Education program.

With the Center’s lengthy waiting list, many students are closed out of education each year - education that would help them become better parents and more engaged citizens.

Program Features

• New 12,000 square foot center, doubles the overall number of child care slots
• Accommodates infant care for the first time

Benefit to Students

• Allows significantly more local parents to pursue their academic dreams by providing quality, affordable and accessible care for their children.
• Dramatically improves learning and the quality of the student teaching experience for those studying in Onondaga’s Early Childhood Education program.

Benefit to the Community

• Helps meet the critical need for qualified, well-trained early childhood education teachers in our community as a whole.

Investment:  $1,000,000