New Semester, New Home For

NVCC Child Development Center

WATERBURY — When early childhood education students return to campus for the spring semester January 21, they will be greeted by an entirely renovated Child Development Center that is back in its original spot after being displaced for a year for the project.

The center’s first total makeover in 25 years included: new bathrooms, a new kitchen, a larger observation room for students and parents, new flooring, lowered ceilings and new lighting to create a warmer and more inviting atmosphere, and adding another outside door to give students and teachers another way to get from inside the center to its playground.

The $600,000 project also includes overhauling the playground — including new handicapped-accessible equipment and a stone amphitheater — but that portion of the plan is not expected to be completed until this spring.

Located on the fourth floor of Kinney Hall, the center provides the training component for Early Childhood Education majors, who will join almost 5,000 other credit students January 21 in returning to classes at Naugatuck Valley Community College.

“It’s really hard to believe it’s the same facility we left a year ago,” said director Marianne Generali. “The renovations were sorely needed and turned out better than we could have hoped.”

The center, which moved out of Kinney Hall into temporary space at Ekstrom Hall for the past year while the work was done, provides care and education for up to 48 children at a time. In addition to a preschool classroom and a toddler classroom, the center is also home to The Discovery School, a special preschool class that is funded by the Waterbury Schools Readiness Initiative.

In addition to early childhood education, NVCC offers more than 90 associate degree programs, including computer information systems, business management, nursing and social work. Registration is open through January 20 by calling 203-575-8151. Copies of the spring schedule are available by visiting www.nvcc.commnet.edu.