"Building a Brighter Future" is the theme for this year's Montclair State University annual dinner. Funds raised will support the construction of The Children's Center, a state-of-the-art facility that will become the home of the University's Psychoeducational and Child Care centers. Hosted by the MSU Foundation, the dinner will be held Thursday, March 29, from 6 to 9 p.m. in the Student Center Ballrooms.

The sponsor is Summit Bank, and the event has drawn corporate sponsorship support from First Union National Bank, Fleet Bank, The Prudential Insurance Company of America, and Johnson & Johnson. Corporate benefactors are Goya Foods, Bestfoods and Sodexho-Marriott.

Funding for the $7 million Children's Center will come from individual contributions, foundations and corporations. Among the campaign's earliest and most enthusiastic supporters are the parents of children who have participated in both programs. The Children's Center will be a 30,000-square-foot building with playground spaces of 12,000 square feet. It will serve up to 500 children a year, and as many as 75 will be children with identified special needs. The Center also will be a demonstration model for the University, the community and the region. As a learning laboratory for inclusive early childhood education, the Center will help prepare nearly 400 educators annually.

The Psychoeducational Center currently is located in a house on Clove Road, and offers early intervention programs for infants and toddlers with special developmental needs as well as a special education school. The Demonstration Program works with 3- to 5-year-olds diagnosed with autism or pervasive developmental disorder. Established in 1974, the Psychoeducational Center also runs the Jeffrey Dworkin Early Childhood Program for children, infant through age 3, with special developmental needs. Through this early intervention program, more than 120 Essex County families receive specialized at-home care and services.

The Child Care Center, which opened in Stone Hall in 1988, provides educational and developmentally appropriate programs for 80 children three months to 6 years old. The Center operates four componentsÑinfant, toddler and pre-kindergarten programs in Stone Hall and a preschool in Webster Hall. The Child Care Center is open to children of Montclair State students and staff as well as families from the surrounding communities. When completed in 2003, the new Center will be a model for the national trend toward inclusive early childhood education by providing an atmosphere where children with disabilities can learn, play and grow alongside their same-age peers.

The Children's Center also will be one of the finest training facilities for future teachers. Both the Psychoeducational Center and the Child Care Center provide students who are studying early childhood education, special education, speech-language pathology, school psychology, and music, physical or occupational therapy an experiential learning site where they can observe children and assist teachers. It also will provide an opportunity to expand programs not only for the children, but for the families, students and community as well. It is expected, for example, that The Children's Center will enable the development of community linkages, distance learning and training opportunities, and provide research opportunities for faculty and students.

For more information about the dinner or to purchase tickets, call Barbara Krusko at 7492.