Tuesday, April 10, 2007
3-year olds Felix Smolen and Sonora Vossen play in the Butterfly Room at the Hilltop Child Development Center. Hilltop will soon be expanded to accomodate the high demand of the center.
Six new classrooms are scheduled for construction this fall at the Hilltop Child Development Center at the University of Kansas, something that Pat Pisani, executive director of the center, says will soothe, but not eliminate, its waiting list, which has grown to more than 300 children.
“We have people calling before their kids are born, people calling before they’re even pregnant to see what their options are,” she said.
The expansion, which will entail two new wings of classrooms and “desperately needed storage space,” are part of a pre-planned “phase two” of the building’s original construction seven years ago, Pisani said.
The expansion is expected to cost about $2 million, primarily from University contributions, Pisani said. She said while student fees pay for about 65 percent of the current building’s bond. However, students are only paying for a small amount of the expansion.
Pisani hoped that both expansions would be open by Fall 2008.
The new classrooms will accommodate about 90 more children in addition to the more than 200 children currently enrolled, who range in age from one to 12 years old.
Scott Nuckolls, Lawrence senior, has brought his three-year-old daughter to Hilltop for two years. He said he was on the waiting list for more than six months, but the center’s location and staff were incentives to enroll his daughter.
“Most of the student aides are out of the School of Education,” Nuckolls said. “It’s a good school of education. You get good student aides.”
Kathy Rose-Mockry, program director at the Emily Taylor Women’s Resource Center, said more nontraditional students, including parent-students, are attending campuses across the country. She said it's important for the University to provide services for those students to succeed.
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The expansion, which will entail two new wings of classrooms and “desperately needed storage space,” are part of a pre-planned “phase two” of the building’s original construction seven years ago, Pisani said.
“By accommodating families in general, we’re making a statement that we value what people with families bring to this campus,” she said.
Hilltop currently employs about 50 to 60 students every semester who assist full-time teachers. Due to the additional classrooms, Pisani said the number of student employees will also increase by about a third. The center will add 12 to 15 full-time staff members, including 10 new teachers.
Pisani said some staff and faculty who try enrolling their child at Hilltop are on the waiting list as long as four years. Students receive priority over faculty and staff when enrolling their children at the center.
“It’s a major thing in people’s lives,” Pisani said. “Some people stay at KU so their kids can come here.”
Kansan staff writer Brian Lewis-Jones can be contacted at bljones@kansan.com.
— Edited by Sharla Shivers
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