Monday, June 16, 2008
Families on the waiting list at the Hilltop Child Development Center might soon be in luck. This fall, three new classrooms will be open at the center with two more additional classrooms opening next summer to meet the demand for child care.
The extra classrooms this fall will allow the enrollment of an additional 38 children for 1-to 2-year-olds. Pat Pisani, executive director of the center, said she planed to hire eight more full-time employees and 10 to 15 part-time employees, including student-hourly employees.
Construction for the expansion at the Hilltop Child Development Center is expected to be complete by July 15. The addition will accommodate 10 additional toddler students and 14 kindergarten students.
“It allows us to get more people off the waiting list so that the students can go to class and do their work that they have to do toward their degrees,” Pisani said.
She said students accounted for more than 55 percent of the parents at Hilltop.
Ophra Leyser-Whalen, DeKalb, Ill., graduate student, has a 2-year-old son. Her husband is also a graduate student at the University. She said they chose Hilltop because of its reputation, location and the fee system based on families’ incomes.
She said she applied for the center as soon as her son was born. She waited for 18 months until the center allowed his admission.
Pisani said usually 300 to 350 children were on the waiting list to get into Hiltop, but the center gave priority to student families. She said the center’s convenient location and benefits, including tuition subsides and sliding fee scales for lower income students, attracted many parents.
“The need continues to grow,” she said. “There are more staff and faculty coming who have young children and more students going to school as nontraditional students.”
Michael Kennedy, Syracuse, N.Y., graduate student, said child care of his daughter was an immediate concern for him and his wife when he decided to attend KU. Their 3-year-old daughter got into Hilltop two weeks ago after a year of waiting.
“She comes home happy every day,” Kennedy said. “I think it’s because of its teaching environment.”
He said he liked Hilltop’s education focusing on children’s positive behaviors. He said the long waiting line was understandable, considering the quality of its programs.
Pisani said there will no further renovations after the two new wings are completed.
- Edited by Bryan Cisler
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Hilltop undergoes construction this summer
I went there! I spent some of my childyears there!
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