Subscribe to the A groundbreaking celebration for The Childrens Center at Montclair State University will take place Wednesday, June 16, from 11 a.m. to noon at the construction site of the Center, lot 28 (Clove Road), on the Montclair State campus.
Donned in hard hats, children enrolled in the Universitys Child Care Center and Demonstration Program will sing construction songs and join MSU President Susan A. Cole in a symbolic groundbreaking in a sand table. Tentative speakers include Ada Beth Cutler, dean of the College of Education and Human Services; a parent whose son with autism is a graduate of the Jeffrey Dworkin Early Intervention and Demonstration programs; and alumna Heather Frank 03 M.A.T., a second-grade teacher who received a 2004 New Jersey Distinguished Future Teacher Award.
The Childrens Center, a 21,500-square-foot, state-of-the-art facility, will become a model for inclusive early childhood education where children with disabilities learn, play and grow alongside their same-age peers. Inclusive education rests on the belief that the appropriate context for young children with special developmental needs is the same settings where their typically developing peers are found. The Childrens Center will provide a social and learning environment where children can explore, create and experience learning as members of a diverse community.