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Dear Colleagues, Students, Alumni, and Community Partners,
A few decades back on September 10, I gave birth to my first child, Anna Christine, at Alta Bates Hospital in Berkeley. At that point, I held two degrees, two credentials, and an administrative leadership role in the Hayward Unified School District in the San Francisco Bay Area. On leaving the hospital, my most vivid emotion bordered on terror, and I recall thinking that it could not possibly be legal for me to leave with this infant—that I had no credential, degree, or licensure that prepared me to undertake what was to come.
Not too long thereafter, I needed to return to work, and with that prospect, the terror returned.
Who will care for my child?
Is this not the anxiety and concern of every parent? I was fortunate, for as an educator, I had a decent-paying career that enabled me to pay the exorbitant cost of Anna’s childcare. We know, though, that this is not the case for many of us. Securing high-quality, low-cost childcare remains a critical challenge. In our region, this is a profound requirement to stay in the workforce, yet childcare is the highest expense a family faces. The global pandemic has only exacerbated the need: many childcare facilities have closed and those that have lasted frequently face severe staffing shortages and rising costs.
CSUCI and our School of Education aim to establish what will be a game-changer by building an Early Childhood Care and Education Center (ECCEC) for our region to be located on our campus and that will serve children from birth to age five. We plan to serve up to 200 children from farm-working families, low-income families, and those who are English language learners and/or special needs children. We will also serve children of CSUCI students and employees.
Building the ECCEC is a CI fundraising priority and President Richard Yao is very engaged in the effort, as are our colleagues, SOE Associate Professor Chuck Weis and Chair of Early Childhood Studies, Professor Mari Riojas-Cortez.
Our ECCEC state-of-the-art facilities will provide
· A model research center for early childhood education and care, including a focus on dual language and special needs learners
· A laboratory-style school that will prepare early childhood educators enrolled in our SOE
· Family partnerships based on funds of knowledge
· Culturally responsive child-centered and led curriculum informed by state and national standards
· Playful environments that provide opportunities for high-quality interactions that foster social and emotional wellbeing
In tandem with designing and building the ECCEC, our very talented array of SOE Early Childhood teacher-scholar professors and practitioner lecturers will continue to expand our educational program offerings beyond the BA in Early Childhood Studies to include the new State-authorized ECE credential and a master’s degree. At long last, early childhood education will receive the professional recognition it deserves.
American educator and philosopher Nell Noddings, who passed away on August 25, and whose work serves in part as the theoretical underpinnings for our Early Childhood Studies program wrote,
My contention is, first, that we should want more from our educational efforts than adequate academic achievement and, second, that we will not achieve even that meager success unless our children believe that they themselves are cared for and learn to care for others.
Noddings believed that fundamental to one’s moral center is care. We can care about others but caring about is radically different from caring for others. Caring for requires tireless commitment, effort, and passion. We intend not by talk alone, but through action to provide the care that our children and community deserve. I invite you to join us on the journey.
Looking forward,
Elizabeth
Elizabeth C. Orozco Reilly
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