Grant Helps Reduce Cost Of Childcare At North Campus Preschool For MDC Students

The U.S. Department of Education has awarded a grant to the Exploration Station preschool to help defray the cost of childcare for student-parents at the North Campus. The  $170,000 Child Care Access Means Parents in School (CCAMPIS ) grant reduces the price of tuition of child care for students enrolled at the College.

“The main goal of this grant is to help students reach degree achievement, while making sure their kids are safe,” said Yolanda Borroto, director of the Exploration Station.

The grant gives a 30 percent discount on the preschool tuition to student-parents enrolled in between six and eight credits and a 40 percent preschool discount to students-parents enrolled in nine to 11 credits. Student-parents taking 12 or more credits can get 50 percent off the preschool tuition. Monthly tuition at the Exploration Station for children of MDC students varies depending on age. Infant care costs $650 a month. Tuition for three and four-year-olds costs $530 a month.

To be eligible for the discount, students must be Pell Grant eligible and have a minimum cumulative GPA of 2.5.

The grant has room for a maximum of 80 students a year, and requires students to re-apply for it each semester.

Borroto gives interested parents tours of the facility in building 600 to give them a close up view of exactly where their children will be taken care of.

Marie Bellegarde, CCAMPIS Student-Parent advisor for the Exploration Station said student-parents can have peace of mind while they are in class that their children are safe and learning.

What Bellegarde is referring to is that the Exploration Station has a focus on STEM (Science Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). The learning is active and focused on play.

Children at the preschool look into microscopes and smart tables to study leaves they picked outside. On a recent afternoon, a group of kids were making words with teachers relating to botany.

The walls were decorated with pictures the children drew of leaves using the outline of their own hands.

Bellegarde said the USDOE choose MDC as one of the 113 institutions nationwide to receive the grant because it allows student-parents to complete their degrees.

Lens Abel, an emergency medical service major at Medical Campus, said the preschool discount is tremendous.

“It’s a great school and my daughter is learning,” Abel said. “I have no complaints.”

Students who receive the grant are expected to volunteer at least one hour per month to help at the Exploration Station.

“I’m so happy with how much they have helped me, sometimes I give them more than an hour,” Abel said.

Students, who are interested in childcare at the Exploration Station, 11380 N.W. 27th Avenue, Building 600, and the CCAMPIS grant can contact Yolanda Borroto,at (305) 237-1357  or go to  http://www.mdc.edu/exploration-station/