About The Child Development Center

Licensing
Our center is licensed by the State of New Jersey, Department of Children and Families, Office of Licensing. Licensing is reviewed annually and renewed every three years. The current licensing manual is located in the Center's office. You have the right to review the manual at any time.

Staff
The Child Development Center maintains a ratio of one adult to six children. Both the Director and the teachers have training in child development and early childhood education as well as administrative experience. Their qualifications meet the guidelines set forth by the State of New Jersey Department of Human Service and the Bureau of Licensing. They actively participate in in-service education and seminars for professional growth and advancement.

The Center provides placement for student teachers each semester. Students enrolled in the William Paterson University College of Education P-3 program may be assigned to the Child Development Center to complete either the Practicum I or Practicum II field site requirement. The Center also employs William Paterson University students to work for a specified number of hours each week through the Work-Study program. Preference is given to students enrolled in education classes. All William Paterson University students are supervised by the teachers and Director and receive training in how to interact with young children prior to working in our classroom.

University Partnerships
The Center is an integral part of the College of Education and the University as a whole. It reflects and addresses the mission of the University as well as providing quality services to the University community. The Center collaborates with the Department of Elementary and Early Childhood Education and offers opportunities to faculty, staff, and students to conduct research. Because the Center is considered a model program, observations by preservice, experienced teachers, graduate students, principals, and early childhood education supervisors occasionally take place in our classroom. We take great pride in sharing our "best practices" with early childhood educators. Staff and WPU faculty have published articles in various education journals and have presented workshops, locally and nationally, highlighting our curriculum.

We collaborate with varying academic departments within the University. Both Undergraduate and Graduate university students may be assigned to our Center by their faculty advisor or instructor to complete a research or class project and/or complete a general or a specific observation. Past student assignment topics have included language samples and speech patterns, small and large motor skill development, play patterns and relationships, handwashing techniques (hygiene) and observing outdoor play. We do not ask parents to sign permission forms for general observations. Parents are asked to sign a permission slip if a University student has an assignment that requires them to interact with an individual child. Your child will only participate if you sign the required permission form. All observations are conducted in the classroom and under the supervision of a staff member of the Child Development Center.

The Child Development Center utilizes campus resources and departments whenever possible. We have story time at the David and Lorraine Cheng Library, and participate in movement science classes with the Physical Education University students at Wightman Gymnasium.