Hillary Kaiser
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Getting ready for school in the morning can be a challenging task, especially when you’re doing it for two people.
Some Cal Poly students aren’t headed to school by themselves in the morning — they drop their young children off at the on-campus Orfalea Family and ASI Children’s Center before heading to class themselves.
Cal Poly’s children’s center provides childcare for kids ages four months to 6 years old, and students with children get first priority in enrollment.
“That is our primary mission, to help our students,” Director of Children’s Programs Tonya Iversen said.
The center has 17 full-time staff members and 80 to 100 student employees to care for the 125 children who attend, Iversen said.
Childcare aside, the children’s center also strives to build a sense of community among all families, Iversen said.
The various classrooms have parent meetings and socials that allow for everyone to get to know each other and talk about parenthood.
In addition to the camaraderie that is built, there is also the support that comes with being surrounded by other students who are also parents.
“I think just being able to walk into the building and know that you are not the only student parent is probably a good feeling,” Iversen said.
Graduate student Heidi Webber is one of the students who uses this resource. Her 4-year-old daughter, Maggie, currently attends and her 6-year-old son, Jack, went there but is now in kindergarten.
Webber’s husband is an undergraduate at Cal Poly, and she said that without the children’s center, they would both not be able to go to school.
“Being a student is exhausting, and working and being a student is exhausting, but this is a sacrifice that we both decided to make,” Webber said. “One of the challenges is just making sure that we are meeting our own expectations for parenting.”
Aside from the convenience of the children’s center and the fact that the fees are subsidized, as is true for most student parents, it is the quality of the center that she loves, Webber said.
“There is peace of mind that the teachers have been doing this a long time and are really watching, caring and investing in our kid and who they are as individuals,” Webber said. “Just the partnership between us and them has been really amazing.”
Mathematics junior Veronica Medina said she might not have come to Cal Poly had her 5-year-old daughter Olivia not been accepted into the children’s center.
Medina said the center is not an average day care in that it actually has a curriculum set up for the children. She sees how it has helped Olivia develop.
“It has shaped Olivia in a lot of ways,” Medina said. “She is really smart for her age and a really social creature. They do so many great things for kids, and they teach them so much.”
Though being a parent and a student is hard, student parents just have to be disciplined and responsible, Medina said.
“I don’t do this for myself, I do it for my daughter so she can have a better future,” Medina said. “It is not only an internal battle, but a battle you are fighting for someone else, and you have to have faith in yourself and know you can do it. If I can do it, anyone can do it.”
Vice President of Student Affairs Keith Humphrey said the children’s center and the Child Development Preschool Learning Lab are tremendous resources for both students and faculty and staff.
Humphrey, a parent of two small boys, said he understands having to balance different things and make commitments and trade-offs.
“Full-time anything and also being a parent is always challenging,” Humphrey said. “I am always impressed by students who are going to school while raising young children, it is a huge commitment.”
Humphrey said he is glad the children’s program is at Cal Poly and pleased with the message it provides.
“Simply by its presence, it sends a clear message that every aspect of your life is important to Cal Poly, including the fact that you have a family,” Humphrey said. “The sheer presence of it sends a strong message to someone on the outside that this is possible.”