Bucks offers many services
for students who are parents,
one of which is the Early
Learning Center, or ELC,
which provides affordable day
care to children of Bucks students.
Located behind Founders
Hall, the ELC is nationally
accredited by the National
Association for the Education
of Young Children and
licensed by the Pennsylvania
Department of Public Welfare,
and participates in the
Pennsylvania Keystone Stars
quality definition program.
“We have a really great program
so the parents don’t have
to worry. They can study, they
can take their classes or engage
in extracurricular activities and
they’re confident their kids are
in great care,” says Dee Short,
Director of the Early Learning
Center.
Many different activities are
there for the children throughout
each semester.
“It’s a full curriculum that is
offered to them, obviously different
activities for a five-yearold
than a two-year-old, but we
try to cover all of the developmental
domains so there’s lots
of physical games and activities
that they do to build physical
strength,” Short says.
In the back of the center,
there is a playground equipped
with slides, bikes, and different
outdoor activities. The children
also have access to the campus
grounds for walks and other
endeavors including a behindthe-
scenes tour of the cafeteria.
There is also a great deal of
self-exploration exercised,
including creative art, dramatic
play, and circle time.
“We do a lot of creative arts
like singing and putting on
shows, drawing; we’ve
received a grant from PNC, so
we have a guest teacher that
comes in and does iPad art
with the kids. We’re getting
artist canvases so each child
can draw their own picture,
and we’re going to display
them in the gallery outside the
Gallagher Room,” explains
Short.
ELC currently has 38 children
enrolled, and provides
three programs: pre-kindergarten
for age four, preschool
for age three, and a toddler
program for age two. There
are four teachers and four
assistant teachers, positions
available to Bucks students.
Short says, “We have workstudy
students who work here
as part of the work-study program.
We get student teachers,
so if there’s an exceptional student
teacher who is going on to
get their four-year degree,
we’ll ask if they’re eligible to
work one day a week, or whenever
they are free, so they can
work here and continue their
education.”
Bucks subsidizes these programs
to provide affordable
rates of $3.50 per hour for children
age three and four, with a
maximum daily fee of $19, and
$3.75 per hour for toddlers
with a maximum daily fee of
$20.
The Early Learning center is
open from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30
p.m. when classes are in session.
They are open during the
fall and spring semesters, as
well as summer semester when
there are enough children
enrolled.
Short said, “Word is getting
out, a couple of our programs
are full for the fall- the pre-k
and the toddler program -so
we’re glad that people are getting
to know us.”
Students can enroll their children
in the Early Learning
Center by contacting them
directly.