Play with Purpose

Inside Stanislaus State’s New Child Development Center

by Donna Birch Trahan

Stephani Smith beams like a kid in a toy store as she stands in the lobby of Stanislaus State’s brand-new Child Development Center (CDC). Pointing to the colorful patterns of light shining across the floor, she explains it’s a detail the architects added during the planning stages at the request of teachers.

The feature is more than just an aesthetic touch — it’s a subtle detail designed to fuel children’s sense of discovery.

“Our goal was to create a space that sparks children’s natural curiosity while doubling as a hands-on laboratory for our students,” Smith said.

A proud Stan State alumna, Smith serves as the CDC’s director. She and her team are excited about the new facility, which officially opened Aug. 21 after two years of construction.

The new, 14,729-square-foot CDC is housed in the southeast section of the University’s main campus in Turlock, between a sustainable garden and the recreation field. Designed and built with sustainable materials and water- and energy-efficiency features, the building includes more classrooms than the former site, allowing the CDC to serve as many as 120 children, ranging in age from 2 months to 5 years, annually — about twice as many as the old location could accommodate.

The CDC’s outdoor play yards feature drought-tolerant landscaping, while indoors, the facility includes a demonstration kitchen where children can learn to prepare simple meals, explore healthy eating habits and engage in hands-on cooking activities that teach math and science skills.

The Center is more than just a place for play. It’s a cutting-edge facility where childlike wonder meets educational innovation. It is the only child development center within 50 miles accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, a designation achieved by less than 10% of early childhood centers nationwide, according to Professor of Child Development Rosanne Roy.

We know it takes a village to raise children, and we’re committed to being a positive part of that village.

- Hannah Mininger

Nurturing Student Success

Roy, a Stan State faculty member who has been with the University for more than 25 years, is the Child Development academic program coordinator and serves as the faculty liaison to the CDC. She and Smith work closely to ensure the CDC’s mission aligns with the Child Development program’s academic requirements.

“Stan State students at the CDC are getting valuable hands-on experiences relevant to their future professions, while the children and their families at the CDC benefit from an accredited high-quality program,” Roy said. “The laboratory courses held at the CDC help students acquire the knowledge and skills critical for professionals working with children.”

Students in child development laboratory courses are required to complete a weekly three-hour session at the CDC, where they can test their knowledge and practice their skills in a faculty-supervised environment.

The facility features four state-of-the-art observation rooms equipped with one-way mirrors and audio-video recording capabilities, making it an invaluable resource for research and training.

“Our students get real-world experience,” Roy said. “Students who take applied courses at the CDC consistently report their experiences here increase confidence in their abilities to work with children in a professional setting.”

A Legacy of Innovation

The CDC has come a long way since its humble beginnings, recalls Professor Emeritus of Psychology Gary Novak, who was involved in its creation and served as its first director.

Back in 1977, when the center started to come together, there wasn’t much support and funding was difficult to obtain.

“The expectation was that mothers would be at home raising the children and men would be out working,” Novak said.

But the persistence of students and faculty helped turn the tide.

“We had a few students who were really enthusiastic about having a childcare facility on campus,” said Novak, “and basically, they were told, ‘You can have it, but it has to be part of the academic side.’ We also had some faculty, including me, who were interested in the ability to observe and study child development. So, we kind of put those two things together. That’s how I got involved.”

After securing funding via a $20,000 grant from Stanislaus County, the center opened off campus at a local church. To emphasize the program’s academic nature, it was named the Child Development Demonstration and Resource Center to ensure it was seen as a resource for both child development and as an academic program.

“It was really a bootstrap operation,” Novak recalled. “We had a lot of hurdles. But from the very beginning, our head teachers were students. We also had other students who were assistant teachers. The combination of finding great students who could do child development or had previous experience in child development and elementary teaching settings was key.”

Today, four decades later, the CDC is proof of what dedication and persistence can achieve.

The newly built center is designed to provide high-quality care for infants, babies, toddlers and young children while also serving as a learning lab for Stan State students.

Smith highlights the importance of student workers, noting that they are a vital part of the team. Students fulfill practicum requirements at the center, gaining hands-on experience that is essential for their education and future careers.

The larger center facilitates an increase in student participation and provides more opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration. Smith adds that kinesiology and nursing majors have also completed clinical hours at the CDC, working with infants, toddlers and preschoolers and gaining insights into child development that they can carry into their careers.

The CDC is a tight-knit community where lasting relationships are formed.

“We’ve become an extended family for the children and their parents,” said Hannah Mininger, the Center’s administrative coordinator. “They know the quality of care their children will receive here, and they don’t want to go anywhere else.

“We know it takes a village to raise children, and we’re committed to being a positive part of that village.”

As impressive as the new CDC site is, its potential for program growth and expansion excites its leaders and staff. The larger space opens the door to new programs and closer ties with the local community. It also offers a chance for donors to leave their mark by contributing to the naming of specific spaces within the center.

As the CDC begins a new chapter, those who are a part of it remain steadfast in their mission to provide high-quality care and education.

“Our program’s heartbeat is family, community quality and growth,” Smith said. “We don’t want to just meet the minimum standards for children. We want to give them what they deserve. This new facility allows us to elevate the field and create an environment where children, families and students can thrive.”

This new facility allows us to elevate the field and create an environment where children, families and students can thrive.

- Stephani Smith