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С��è��ý Rock Creek Child Care Center earns accreditation

Photos and story by James Hill

Rock Creek Campus Child Care Center Director Sonya Stevens could not be happier. And about 30 kids and their student parents are, too.

After three years of hard work by college staff, the С��è��ý center at Rock Creek (17705 N.W. Springville Road) has received accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, which is an 80-year-old national association dedicated to setting professional standards for early childhood education programs. The С��è��ý center is now one of a handful of programs in Oregon and the metro area to be accredited by this agency.

“We could not be prouder,” Stevens said.

The center serves С��è��ý students with young children; all the parents using this service qualify for low-income status. Retention research shows that these students are more likely to finish their education when their child care is stable and safe.

“Students with children are often working and too busy to make themselves heard,” Stevens said. “They don’t have time to be a voice (so we have to be that for them).”

There is high demand for childcare of the nearly 2,700 Pell Grant-eligible student-parents that attend С��è��ý every year. Priority is given to students who are Pell-eligible and enrolled full-time at the campus. The student-parents, many of whom are older, single and first-generation college students, face child care and other challenges to earning a degree.

The Rock Creek Child care Center has 16 to 32 slots for young children (depending on age) and is full with long waiting lists. Thanks to the 2008 bond measure passing, Stevens and her staff could see new or expanded facilities to meet the demand in the next few years.

That would be a capper to a stretch of hard work. Two rounds of parent surveys, numerous portfolios and PowerPoints, and a visit by national assessors, “put more work on a lot of people,” said Stevens. However, that hard work paid off with scores of 100 percent in every area.

“This national accreditation demonstrates С��è��ý’s commitment to students who have children and to the children themselves,” said Rock Creek Dean of Students Narce Rodriguez. “Happy children equal happy parents and students, which equals retention.”