Child development center serves tri-campus kids

By CAROLINE COLLINS a ssociate news e ditor

The tri-campus community is home to college students, but it is also the site of the early childhood development center (ecdc), which provides early childhood education for affiliated families and members of the south bend community.

sophomore shelby Johnson works with the two-year-olds and four-year-olds at ecdc ecdc is a non-profit early childhood program that serves children ages two through six during the school year. over the summer, ecdc offers summer camp programs for children ages two through 10. ecdc has two sites on the tricampus: the notre dame site which is open to families affiliated with the University, and the saint mary’s site that serves both families affiliated with the University and families from the greater community.

“They color me pictures, and i [hang] them up above my desk. i’ll ask them to write their names, and it’s like a backwards ‘s.’ it’s really cute,” Johnson said.

The center was founded in 1971 and is accredited with the national association for the education of Young children.

Kari alford, the executive director of ecdc, said about 270 children are enrolled in the program between