Published:
By Sarah Kaufman
When Erica Mercado-Mendoza searched for a preschool for her three-year-old son, Selvin, in her hometown of Manchester, she became increasingly frustrated.
“It was very difficult and to this day they haven’t responded at all,” Mercado-Mendoza said.
Then she learned about Central Connecticut State University’s Drop-In Child Care Center, which provides educational and child-care services to CCSU students for free. The 28-year-old junior is working on her bachelor’s degree in Business with hopes of parlaying that into a law degree.
"The center’s services align with my classes. It helps me because I don’t have a fulltime job and it’s affordable,” she says. “I like it because everything that he’s telling me that he does. It’s nice to see that he’s enjoying it that he’s learning.”
Center Director Kelly McCarthy says the center employs about 10 student workers who are working toward their degrees in Education, as well as a part-time pre-kindergarten teacher.
Working one-on-one with the children gives these students the opportunity to add skills and experience to their resumes when searching for jobs after graduation.
Mercado-Mendoza said she is impressed by the center staff’s professionalism and the way they interact with the children.
“The teachers are all very nice, respectful, friendly. I trust them,” Mercado-Mendoza says. “I love the way they are with Selvin. I know he’s safe.”
A married mother and stepmother of six children in total, Mercado-Mendoza says that she was a little concerned about how Selvin would do at the center before he attended.
“He’s learning to share. That was one thing that I was nervous about,” she said. “At home, he didn’t like sharing with his siblings, but now he’s sharing with them more.”
The center opened in the Fall of 2022 and McCarthy hopes to expand its programming. In fact, this year the center is offering six-week summer enrichment programs geared toward children between the ages of three and seven years old. While the parents need to be enrolled CCSU students to take advantage of the programs, they do not have to be actively taking classes over the summer to have their children attend the drop-in center.
McCarthy said the center and its programs have evolved several times since opening. It currently serves 40 families of children between the ages of three and twelve and hopes to attract more. However, McCarthy says that if the center has room, its services may become available for the children of faculty and staff.
“The attractiveness of the center is that, during the day, parents have a very high-quality preschool program, with veteran staff, qualified teachers, and a licensed facility,” McCarthy says. “During the afternoon and evening, we have educational enrichment programs.”
McCarthy says older, school-aged students who attend school during the day then come to the center in the afternoon with their parents will get help with homework, tutoring, and can participate in the enrichment programs provided by the center.
Students can learn more about the drop-in center’s curriculum, policies, and services by visiting its page on the CCSU website or contacting McCarthy at kellymccarthy@ccsu.edu/. All visits to the center must be scheduled, McCarthy notes.
Mercado-Mendoza likes CCSU’s childcare center so much, she’s told her friends about it. One friend even plans to sign up for classes in the fall to work toward her degree and have her children attend the drop-in center.
“It’s wonderful,” she says. “It’s a nice place, and it’s helped lots of students.”