Construction to begin on Early Childhood Development Center

President Karen Holbrook, College of Human Ecology Dean David Andrews and Columbus Public Schools Board President Stephanie Hightower will be joined by local families and service agency representatives from the Weinland Park community to break ground on the first university-based early childhood laboratory school in the nation built in a neighborhood of documented need. The center will be located next to Columbus Public School’s future Weinland Park Elementary School.

The event to kick off construction on the university’s new Early Childhood Development Center will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday (5/20) at the corner of East 7th and North 4th Avenues. The formal program is set for 4:30 p.m. The event will have a carnival theme, featuring children’s games, helium balloons, and clown noses for the families and children in attendance.

Among other initiatives, the center will: serve up to 88 children; assist their parents in their roles; provide state-of-the-art training to university students; allow world-class researchers to engage in and exchange ideas on innovative research about early childhood education; and partner with the community to fulfill a designated need for quality child care, as well as to research the special issues facing Weinland Park families.

WHAT: Ohio State and Columbus Public Schools officials will be on hand for the groundbreaking of Early Childhood Development Center, the first university-based early childhood laboratory school in the nation built in a neighborhood of documented need.

WHEN:Formal program: 4:30 p.m. on Friday (5/20)

WHERE:Future site of the Early Childhood Development Center, corner of East 7th and North 4th Avenues.