Operating out of the First United Methodist Church on E. Fulton Street since its founding in 1974, a dedicated space for Grand Rapids Community College’s laboratory preschool has been a long time coming.
“We are excited to open a new facility that has been specifically designed to meet the needs of two populations — preschoolers from ages six weeks to six years and the students in our child development and education programs,” says President Steven Ender.
The $2.7 million, state-of the-art new laboratory preschool, which broke ground at 210 Lyon Street NW in summer 2015, will celebrate the grand opening of the space with a community open house at 2 p.m. on Jan. 21.
Each of the new laboratory preschool classrooms boast outdoor meeting spaces, as well as individual meeting spaces, with a separate classroom, lockers, and other designated space for GRCC students in the college’s childhood development and education program. The new building also features a children’s library, multipurpose spaces to host large motor activities for the children, and an office for Child Development and Education program faculty.
Named the Phyllis Fratzke Early Childhood Learning Laboratory in honor of the person who began both of the programs within its walls, GRCC Preschool Director JaneAnn Benson says the interior weaves an ecological theme throughout and uses the textures already there as a tactile representation.
"Different textures represent things such as forest/woodland, marsh/meadow, lake/river and sand dune/beach," Benson says. "There also are circles throughout the building representing many things, including how connected we are, bubbles in the river, bubbles that children love to play with, and our connection with the neighborhood.”
Thanks to the additional classrooms afforded by the new building, GRCC can also allow the preschool to expand its services and broaden early childhood educational support for families and caregivers in low-income Grand Rapids neighborhoods.
GRCC received funding from the Frey Foundation, PNC Bank Foundation, and W.K. Kellogg Foundation for the creation of a new community liaison position at the college to help implement an outreach program that positions the new preschool as a hub for connecting families, teachers, and students with best-practice early education resources.
"Early childhood care providers from the community will meet here to learn and share practices that best support children and families," Benson says. “The building will also serve to support families in the care of their children -- providing a dynamic space for their children to learn and grow, providing child and community resources, and events that support healthy family development."
Written by Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of Grand Rapids Community College
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