Nov. 3, 2022
Dear Campus Community:
An early childhood center has been planned for CSUCI since before opening our doors 20 years ago. Of the 23 CSU campuses, CSUCI is one of only three without childcare arrangements for students. I am pleased to share that we are taking another important step in realizing this long-time shared vision. After gathering input on construction site options from our campus community, I made the decision to renovate existing buildings along the west side of Camarillo Street south of Santa Barbara Avenue to house the Early Childhood Care & Education Center (ECCEC).
The ECCEC will provide access to high-quality childcare and education for children of CSUCI students, 40% of whom earn less than $24,000 a year, farm workers’ children in the region, and other community members, as well as for children of our faculty and staff. One of the goals is to help fill the need for quality, affordable and accessible care.
The ECCEC will not only provide opportunities for interdisciplinary research, service learning, and community partnerships but will be a site for Early Childhood Studies majors to conduct field work including student teaching. This Center will also be a clinical practice experience site for the newly proposed PK-3 Early Childhood Specialist Instruction Credential, an initiative in California created to meet the demand for qualified and diverse workforce in early childhood. The interdisciplinary nature of the ECCEC will also offer valuable experiences for students and faculty in other programs (e.g., Nursing, Sociology, Psychology, Art, Chicana/o Studies).
As planned, the ECCEC will serve infants (6 weeks) through 5 years old as well as possible evening care for children up to 8 years old. The center will follow a Balanced Dual Language Model to meet the needs of young dual language learners or DLLs (60% of children under 5 years old are identified as DLLs) and will be open to children of all abilities including those with special needs. We will also collaborate with community partners to provide varied professional opportunities for early childhood educators throughout Ventura County including family childcare providers.
Plans for the first phase include 10 classrooms, two outdoor play areas, a medical office, multipurpose room/art studio, commercial kitchen, and laundry room. A proposed second floor would house a family resource area, as well as college classroom space and faculty offices.
We recently received a $5 million grant for the ECCEC from the Ventura County Board of Supervisors, bringing us to nearly the halfway mark in needed funding for infrastructure, planning, and construction. So far, we have $22.83 million of the total cost of $46.69 million needed for the Center, which we plan to build with a combination of public and private funding.
I am extremely grateful for the investment from the County of Ventura and the State. The latter includes two allocations totaling $7 million through the support of Assembly member Jacqui Irwin. These, coupled with the University’s $10 million commitment, which includes a $1.5 million donation from Kennedy Wilson, have helped get us this far. With additional financial supports that we are actively seeking in both public and private realms, we can build this vitally needed facility and increase the availability, affordability, and quality of childcare and preschool throughout our region to the benefit of students, families, and employers. This is the top capital and programmatic priority for CSUCI.
I invite you to visit the ECCEC webpage to learn more information about the Center.
Sincerely,
Richard Yao, Ph.D.
President