The Early Childhood Development and Literacy Center at Coastal Carolina University reopened in August through a new partnership with SBC Childcare LLC, which is managing and staffing the center. The center, which closed last year due to COVID-19, will continue to house the Peggy S. Shelley Early Childhood Lab School for students in CCU’s Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences, providing future teachers with valuable hands-on experience.

Sandy Baldridge-Adrian, associate vice president for auxiliary enterprises at CCU, said the new partnership allows the Early Childhood Development and Literacy Center to provide the best care and staffing. The facility is open to the public and serves children ages 3-5 years old.

The center’s mission is to provide “a nurturing and educational environment while ensuring optimal physical, emotional, communicative, and cognitive development for each child.” The center uses a holistic learning approach, with a secular and inclusive philosophy and curriculum.

“We are so excited to be on campus and to draw from the resources that the University has to offer,” said Winona (Ellie) Sweet-Puvel, who is serving as director of the center. “We provide a safe and secure center for the children so that our parents can rest assured that their child is having a blast as they learn. Having access to the varied departments on campus will enrich the learning opportunities for the children.”

CCU’s students from the Spadoni College of Education and Social Sciences will continue to work in the center. “Providing opportunities for CCU students, faculty, and staff to collaborate and share knowledge is one of the center’s main objectives,” Baldridge-Adrian said. “It creates an extended educational experience for both the children at the center and our students.”

“CCU students who are pursuing education as a career can work or intern at the center to get a glimpse of what an early childhood classroom feels like,” Sweet-Puvel said. “We are super excited to have our first intern from the language department. She spends a few hours a day teaching the children in Spanish.”

Sweet-Puvel said students are continually working on social skills such as sharing and respecting each other’s space. Within the first few weeks of opening, the children have begun learning to recognize letters of the alphabet and the sounds they make, as well as working on fine motor skills to get their hands ready to write and draw.

The director’s goals for the center are “to create an environment where children learn through natural curiosity, to stimulate each child’s sense of self, to instill self-esteem, to encourage independence through positive play environments, to ensure that those children going to kindergarten are well-prepared, and that all the children develop a love for learning.”

The center has partnered with Aramark, CCU’s food service vendor, to provide well-rounded nutritional meals to all children enrolled. Breakfast, lunch, and snacks are provided daily as part of the tuition cost.

The Early Childhood Development and Literacy Center is open from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The center is located inside CCU’s Kingston Hall, 106 Chanticleer Drive East, Conway, S.C., 29526.

For more information or to schedule a tour, click here or email Sweet-Puvel at wpuvel@coastal.edu.