State-of-the-Art Facilities
The Early Learning Center opened in June 2004 in a building that had been extensively remodeled and redesigned for its use, with high-quality, child-centered physical features. The ELC’s 27,000 square feet of interior space includes 22 classrooms, several meeting and interview rooms, a gym, a teaching kitchen and numerous specialized areas. Children have 1.5 acres of outdoor play space, with age-appropriate playground equipment for the various age groups and two large tricycle paths.
All the children’s classrooms as well as the gym and the special activity rooms can be viewed from specially equipped observation booths. The booths, which feature controls to operate the cameras and microphones located unobtrusively in the rooms, are used by UD students and researchers as well as parents to observe children as they play and learn.
All ELC rooms have such safety features as child-proof electrical outlets and protective door panels to prevent pinched fingers. The building’s exterior doors are equipped with alarms. Each infant and toddler room has climbing equipment, and all bathrooms have child-sized fixtures and sufficient space to maneuver a wheelchair. The infant rooms have diffused overhead lighting to protect baby’s eyes when they are lying on their backs and extra vents directly above the changing areas.
An art room is available for fine arts instruction. Resource rooms are available for staff as well as family members which are equipped with computers, books and educational materials. The ELC has a laundry room; a kitchen where a nutrition assistant prepares breakfast, lunch and snacks; and a comfortably furnished room set aside for nursing mothers who want to visit and feed their babies. Various meeting rooms offer privacy for staff and families while other space is available for a UD seminar to meet or for a researcher to interview children and families.