THE ROBERT CALL CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER

SRJC's Child Development Department

The Robert Call Child Development Center was designed by the the architecture firm of Tomasi, Lawry, Coker and DeSilva working with Child Development staff and faculty, and it reflects a commitment on the part of Santa Rosa Junior College to improve the lives of children and families in Sonoma County. The facility was designed with two main purposes---to provide a modern, supportive environment in which child development professionals can be trained to work with the children and families in their community, and to provide an optimal child care setting for children from infancy through pre-school focusing primarily on serving children of students.

The entrance to the Call Child Dev. Center has heritage oaks on one side. Children and college students enter into an enclosed courtyard.
This child care facility also serves as our training setting for students. It represents a model of how to meet the needs of students, children and families through facility design. It is our belief that this ideal will influence them throughout their career. We firmly believe that our department will be able to offer a higher quality program to both the students, the children and the families involved because of our new facility. Ultimately, the effects of this program will be felt throughout our community and the quality of life for Sonoma County's families will be raised.

Every detail of the facility has been carefully thought through to provide a smooth flow between philosophy and implementation. In entering the building it becomes apparent that this is a different kind of space. The children's spaces are uniquely designed to support the teacher in meeting the child's needs. They are a blending of active, stimulating environments and quiet, home-like spaces. The areas for college students are designed to focus on meeting their academic needs, For example one can see the following:

Upstairs in the college study area The upstairs area houses three college classrooms, faculty office and conference areas and a student resource room.

Classrooms are designed for specific class types. Curriculum classes like art and music have larger spaces and access to water and special storage and counter space.
The lecture classrooms are unique because the traditional tablet chair is replaced by clusters of tables where students face each other. This supports our department's approach to active learning, where student's discussions and interactions with each other are a crucial element. The student resource room
A student resource room provides a setting where groups of students can work together or meet in small groups with faculty.
Both the students and children's environments emphasize the role that aesthetics play in creating an optimal learning environment. Whenever possible the institutional feel has been diminished. All of this is aided by the blending of old oak trees that nestle around the building.

Downstairs in the Children's Center area

Although it is a large center (with a capacity for over 100 children) great efforts have been made to keep the feeling small and more appropriate to a young child. We have eliminated hallways, so that each child enters his classroom directly from a common courtyard. The Center has more of a "village" feel than an institutional school. It feels different and separate than the rest of the campus. The central courtyard has a protected feeling to it. Overhangs allow you to enter any room without exposure to rain or inclement weather.

The central courtyard provides a protected space

Each children's room is marked with ceramic tiles at the children's eyelevel created by artists for this building. They add a whimsical touch to the building and provide signage for those who are too young to read.

Each classroom has an observation room attached where students can observe and listen unobtrusively to children's and teacher's behaviors, later taking that information back to class for group discussion and reflection.

In keeping with our philosophy that a good child development program serves the whole family, specific spaces have been set aside for parent meetings and conferences in an informal "living room" environment. A parent library and other resources are available to students and parents.

The play yards that surround the children's classrooms offer unique opportunities for group play and learning in a naturalistic environment. They also offer quiet, private spots where children can rest or play away from the crowd with just one special friend. These yards are more accurately viewed as outdoor classrooms for children's exploration rather than as play grounds for letting off steam.

Separate yards for each age group allow us to place appropriate equipment and challenges for each developmental level. The two year olds climber on the right is smaller than the one for pre-schoolers. All yards feature large protected areas under over-hangs that allow children to play outside in rainy weather.

The children's yards combine plantings (fruit trees, lamb's ears, fragrant shrubs, heritage oaks, and other flowering plants, with natural areas, children's garden, wheel toy areas and climbing structures.

Water play is integrated into the sandbox play with small fountains that trickle over rocks and other surfaces into the sand.

There are separate classrooms (and yards) for the infants, toddlers, two year olds and the pre-school aged children with both common features and design features unique to each age group.

This room for toddlers (aged 12-24 months) has a combination of softer "private" areas and more active areas plus space for messier activities. This room also has it's own sterilizing dishwasher for bottles and plastic toys. Although a central kitchen provides nutritious meals each classroom also has its own food prep area with a microwave and mini refrigerator and sink. Colors in all the rooms are a combination of soft pastels and neutrals. In the background is the infant area for children under 12 months old. These children can view the older children and caregivers through the low window, thus becoming familiar with the faces of the people who will care for them when they are older. These rooms share a common crib room.

A low light level video camera mounted in the crib room allows staff in the classrooms to notice when children are stirring. Children are kept under visual observation even when teachers are in the other room.

These cubbies were specially designed and built for toddlers. They feature lucite hatches held on by magnets. This allows the toddlers to see the contents without pulling everything out. The cubbies in the pre-school have a more traditional design, but a lip was put across the bottom to keep contents from spilling out onto the floor.

The bathroom facilities for the classrooms also feature some useful features.

The infant/toddler changing area on the left features pull out stairs that are built into the changing table. A built in sink with extension sprayer helps to clean the soiled children. The Pre-school bathroom on the right features plenty of storage space, and dutch doors with built in windows. All of the bathrooms were built adjacent to and accessible from the yard. This allows all children in the yard to use the facilities without having to enter the classroom. It also makes it easy have the children wash on their way into the classroom.

Each of the pre-school rooms features low counter space and storage cabinets at the children's height. Science shelves were built in under windows, so plant and growing experiments could be done/viewed by the children.

Every children's room features a parent information center where they can sign in, pick up messages from other parents and teachers and familiarize themselves with the daily schedule, food menus and other resources. Note that the entrance door has low windows so children can view the central courtyard and say good by to their parents when they are dropped off.

The small furniture in this dramatic play area sits next to low windows that the children can view through. Finally, this facility addresses one of the most crucial issues facing child development today, i.e. high staff turnover caused by difficult working conditions found in most centers. The building has a number of features designed to assist the classroom teacher in his or her job. Office space for each teacher is adjacent to the classroom (even a staff toilet is available adjacent to the classroom). Adequate storage has been designed into the classroom. A central workroom provides a collaborative workspace, and an attached staff lounge or study area offers space where informal meetings and conferences can occur uninterrupted by classroom noise.

Materials in the central prep room are exchanged with the storage rooms present in each classroom, as well as ample on-the-floor storage.

This building is a synthesis of what we know is best for the college student, the child, the family and the staff and presents a unique opportunity to support a program that has become one of the most vital resources to the Sonoma County community. It will have an impact for years to come.