Brockport Child Development Center is turning 35 years old in October of this year. What began in 1972 as the Brockport Child Day Care Center, serving 20 children, has grown into a nationally accredited facility providing care and education for over 100 children annually.

The Center long ago outgrew its original home in the basement of the First Baptist Church, 124 South Main Street, and moved into Cooper Hall on the campus of SUNY Brockport in 1982.

While a primary focus is meeting the needs of student parents, faculty and staff of the college, the Center continues to serve the wider Brockport community.

In a field with an annual staff turnover rate of over 40 percent, the Brockport Child Development Center is unique. Several of the teaching staff have worked there for over 10 years. Two, Shirley Herlan and David Hull, have taught there for more than 20 years, and two others, Alice Powell and Lynn Manuel, each have more than 30 years with the Center. Executive Director Lou Sweigman, who began as an undergraduate volunteer, has also been with the Center for more than 30 years.

That kind of tenure means that for some, they have seen the children they once cared for return as parents of children recently or currently enrolled.

On October 6, the Brockport Child Development Center is having a celebratory dinner in the New York Room of Cooper Hall. For information call 395-2273.

September 2, 2007