Sounds of children’s laughs echo along the trail past the Towers at Centennial Square and Mary Ward Hall. At the end of the trail rows of bright-colored cottages of blue, yellow, and green are discovered. Inside the bright-colored buildings is the Associated Students Children's Center.

Since 1972 the center has provided quality childcare for student parents, faculty, and staff of SF State. The program accepts infants and toddlers between the ages of six months and five years old. The center is licensed by the California Department of Human Services and was accredited in 1992 by The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

"I love working here," said Sarah Johnson, the director of the center. "My job is challenging and fun."

Johnson, who has been director since June 1990, holds a Master's in early childhood and manages a staff of nine head teachers, 50 teacher assistants, and two program directors. This fall the center is serving 145 families and single parents.

Johnson moved the once small program that operated in a temporary, run-down building with three small classrooms to a state-of-the-art facility located next to the Seven Hills Conference Center on South State Drive. Thanks to design architects Spaces for Children and the construction company Don Dommer Associates the children of SF State spend their days in a quality environment.

“We lobbied hard with the board of trustees to approve this expansion project,” said Johnson.

The center's philosophy is that each child is unique and deserves respect, consistency, and challenges to grow and learn.

"Process is important, not product," said Johnson.

Each day when the doors open at 7:30 a.m. the children are taken through a day of adventure and a variety of experiences. Preschool children greet each other at morning circle time and look forward to the variety of activities, indoors or outdoors, which develop the child’s creativity and motor development. Toddlers are free to explore their environment and the infants spend time with their caregivers.

By midday the part-time families arrive and the children prepare for their afternoon nap. Each child has a portfolio which includes photo documentation, observation, and the child’s drawings. This information helps teachers plan their lessons and provide feedback to the parents on the growth and development of their child. Parent involvement includes potlucks, parent-teacher conferences, and workshops about sleeping patterns, separation anxiety, and many other topics each month.

The purpose of providing campus childcare is to assist student parents who are completing their education by providing convenient and affordable childcare for their children.

“There is a state mandate that provides childcare to all CSU students,” said Johnson.

As a CSU student parent access to childcare is offered to students who attend school part time or more. The CSU Children's Center Policy (AAES 90-33) states that no qualified student parent be denied access to any CSU campus or have his/her academic progress impaired because of the lack of adequate and affordable campus childcare services. Because of this policy every CSU in the state offers appropriate childcare.

Not only does the center help the student parents with quality childcare, they also helped create SF State's new Child and Adolescent degree program. They currently provide observation and volunteer opportunities for 225 SF State students. The center works with students who want to pursue a career in early childhood education and teachers.

"Working at the center has made me want to be a teacher," said Carlos Zerzan.

Zerzan, an SF State senior majoring in liberal arts, has worked at the center since his freshman year in 2001. His job and the time he spends with the children is a steppingstone to his future career as a teacher. Children form a close bond with teacher assistants like Zerzan and come to trust and feel comfortable with them, he said.

"For a child to trust and feel safe with you is the most rewarding experience," said Zerzan.

SF State student parents comprise 80 percent, 57 percent undergraduates and 43 percent graduates, of the overall enrollment at the center. The remaining enrollment is 12 percent faculty and staff and 8 percent center alumni parents. The center receives about 60 percent of their budget from parent fees. Most students pay 52 percent less than the market rate because of low-income family status. They are also able to service a number of single parents due to grants that provide subsidies for low-income students

Fees are calculated by low-income, sliding scale, and family size. Low-income is defined as no more than 75 percent of state median income. For example, for one part-time, equal to 15 hours, to full-time toddler, 50 hours, fees are $839 to $4,820 a semester. For students who are calculated on a sliding scale, which denotes the annual gross income of all related individuals in the household, part-time to full-time toddler fees are $1,392 to $5,801 a semester. A semester is defined as a 17 week session.

Parents are grateful and appreciative of the program; it made a big difference in the lives of their children, said Johnson. For many of the parents, affordable and convenient childcare is difficult to find considering the high cost of childcare in the Bay Area, she also said.

"The parents have peace of mind," said Johnson.

Parent participation and feedback is essential in providing quality childcare and providing the appropriate staff.

The infant, toddler, and preschool program coordinators conducted an extensive parent survey in January 2000. The purpose of the survey was to rate the quality of care the children are receiving and to solicit positive and helpful feedback. The feedback they received from parents about what they liked about the program included:

“Philosophy – learn through play and tools for that learning--blocks, legos, and writing,” said a preschool child's parent.

The things parents would like to see changed included:

“I would like to see the teacher assistants from semester to semester," said a preschool child's parent.

Tina Smith, student parent of two boys, wrote a letter to Johnson expressing her gratitude and appreciation for the program. Smith, who had stopped attending school after having her second child, found it impossible to complete school by taking evening classes. She applied and her children were accepted with funding assistance for her older child. This gave Smith the opportunity she needed to take classes during the day and graduate.

“Without the parents and children we would not have a program,” said Johnson.