Students, faculty and staff at California State University, Bakersfield can once again take advantage of child care on campus.
After being closed for over two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CSUB’s children’s center has been reopened through a new partnership with California Ivy League Preparatory Academy. The academy has taken over operation of the facility from the university.
“We’re excited about this partnership and the opportunity to provide this service again,” said EJ Callahan, assistant vice president for Student Affairs and Student-Centered Enterprises Inc. “We know this is something our students, faculty and staff have been asking about, and we’ve been trying our hardest to get it back up and going.”
Cal Ivy Prep Director Amy Miller said the organization wanted to run the facility as it works to expand its services. Cal Ivy Prep already operates a Preschool and Infant Center on Ashe Road.
After reopening the CSUB facility earlier this month, Miller said she’s seen a strong response from parents, with over 30 children enrolled so far.
“There’s a huge need for child care, not just at CSUB but within the whole community,” she said. “We’re happy that we are able to provide this service on campus. The feedback we’ve gotten so far from families has been very positive.”
CSUB has been working for over a year to revamp the aging facility and address critical infrastructure needs to help get it ready for reopening. Earlier this year, the university upgraded the center with new flooring, bathroom repairs, asbestos removal and more.
“Providing an opportunity for students, faculty and staff to have childcare available on campus was important to us, and we feel this partnership is the best way for us to deliver that,” Callahan said. “We learned a lot about what it would take to open back up and we realized we just didn’t have enough resources to do it ourselves.”
Cal Ivy Prep at CSUB — located across from Student Housing West — serves children between six weeks and five years of age. It provides a variety of learning programs and activities that help children develop their mental, physical and social skills.
Children are grouped together in the classroom based on their age, with curriculum tailored to their age group, whether they be infants, toddlers or preschoolers.
The center is currently only open to the children of CSUB students, faculty and staff. However, Miller said there are plans to open up enrollment to the broader community in the near future. The center can take up to 91 children at one time.
Christina Ramirez — an academic advisor in the School of Arts and Humanities — first brought her daughter, Isabel Johnson, to the center in 2019 when she was 6 months old. After having to be taken out in 2020 due to the spread of COVID-19, Isabel is back at the facility, now as a 3-year-old.
“I was thrilled to hear that Cal Ivy Prep would be the care center that would be coming to CSUB,” she said. “Isabel absolutely loves it there and is thriving.”
Ramirez said having a center for children on campus is very important, something that really hit home for her after Ramirez returned to campus last year while the facility was still closed. She had to rely on other family members to care for Isabel while she was working.
“I can speak from experience —not having a center to take my daughter to when I returned to work after the pandemic was extremely challenging,” she said. “This opportunity to have my daughter on campus is great. It is so convenient to have her just a few buildings away from me.”
Miller expects more children like Isabel to join as more families are made aware of Cal Ivy Prep at CSUB and as it becomes available to a wider range of children.
Cal Ivy Prep has hired six teachers for the center so far and is looking to hire another at least three or four more depending on enrollment.
Miller hopes to see Cal Ivy Prep at CSUB expand its offerings in the future. There are plans to do more family events and field trips to different areas on campus, such as the Walter W. Stiern Library.
Miller believes Cal Ivy Prep is providing a critical service for families through its two centers and that they are helping prepare children for a successful future.
“We’re raising little people to be part of our society,” she said. “These first five years are super important for who they will be the rest of their lives. To be a part of that is really special.”
Cal Ivy Prep at CSUB is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. An enrollment form can be found here. To learn more about Cal Ivy Prep, visit calivyprep.org.
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