Children were the focus yesterday morning when Chancellor Robert Coombe announced that a $1.5 million gift will be used to establish a new early childhood education program at the University of Denver.
The Institute for Early Learning and Literacy will be housed in the Morgridge College of Education. The money was donated by Denver philanthropists Cydney and Tom Marsico.
“The institute is going to be a pathway, a door, through which all kinds of people, the public at large, can gain access and learn about early childhood education. It’s going to be a place of research and learning,” said Coombe to about 50 people gathered at the Fisher Early Learning Center on East Evans Avenue.
One of the purposes of the new institute will be to serve as a training center for teachers and staff.
“[We are] really trying to build a model that we can then train other people in,” said Ginger Maloney, dean of the Morgridge school.
A particular focus, according to Maloney, will be to create “successful strategies for children with disabilities.”
The Fisher Early Learning Center, which provides education to children from 6 weeks old to 5 years old, plays a vital role in helping children with disabilities, said Maloney: the center serves as a “national model for the inclusion of young children with disabilities.”
The Institute will also serve as a research center, promoter of early intervention teachings for at-risk children and a “hub for innovative ideas to inform the development of emerging early childhood education and care systems in states around the country,” according to a press release.
B B B B B Bruce Atchison, chief of staff for Colorado Lt. Gov. Barbara O’Brien, who was present, reiterated the importance of early childhood education to the state.
“We’re passionate about education; we’re passionate about early childhood,” said Atchison. “We’re committed to governing with an eye to the future.”
Statewide efforts to improve education from preschool through secondary school include attempts to cut the dropout rate, close the achievement gap and increase the number of degrees and certificates given to students.
“That work all begins in the early years,” said Atchison.
The institute is one of many early childhood education programs housed within the college.
The new Morgridge College of Education will be located across the street from the Fisher Center on East Evans Avenue, between Race and High streets. Fundraising for the $23 million project has been completed, according to Coombe.
The announcement yesterday came as part of the “Week of the Young Child,” April 13-19, and is coordinated by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
DU will have a large role in the institute, said Coombe. “I can’t tell you how important this enterprise is to us at the University of Denver.”
He added, “Our college is going to grow into an asset for the community.”
Dean Maloney said the time is right for early childhood education to come to the forefront: “The time is right in this state for really amazing things to happen for young children.”
