Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø

• Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø students requesting full time care.
• Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø faculty and staff requesting full time care.
• External community requesting full time care.

The center’s professionally trained staff consists of a director, assistant director, program assistant, 22 full-time teachers and a kitchen aide.

Staff members are assisted by work study students, student interns and service learners from the college’s Education, Nursing and Human Services programs.

There are grant funds available to assist parents attending Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø with tuition for their children. Students who do not meet eligibility for grants may receive a 25 percent discount on the Rensselaer County child care market rates.

A current copy of the tuition cost will be provided during your first visit to the center.

Parents are able to make online recurring payments through the Parent Portal of the center's Sandbox daycare management software.

Our program is designed toward meeting children's increasing physical, intellectual, and social competencies. The goals are centered not just on content but on the process of learning. Children need to know: how to learn, how to think, how to love, how to communicate, how to make decisions, how to organize, how to create, and how to value.

The center provides opportunities to work alone and in groups; opportunities to select and choose, to talk and listen, to express feelings to teachers and to other children. We want children to be initiators as well as doers, to help plan experiences, to participate in activities which have open ended solutions and to participate in activities that are challenging, but not frustrating.

Children enrolled will be offered a variety of developmental activities designed to meet their individual needs. Activities designed to assist in physical development would include climbing apparatus, balance boards, tricycles, music and dance, tumbling, playing with balls and bean bags as well as providing adequate health care, nutrition education and an emphasis on safety. Small motor development will be encouraged through the use of puzzles, beads, scissors, crayons and pencils, peg boards, play dough, and other manipulative toys and games. Activities designed to assist in social-emotional development would include such things as dramatic play and puppetry, story time, conversation time, lock play, water and sand play, music and movement, and creative art.

Activities designed to assist in intellectual development would include block play; table games which encourage sorting, matching, classifying, making comparisons, counting, 1-1 correspondence, naming, describing, memory skills, sequencing, etc. as well as activities which encourage language development, mathematics, science and art.

The environment and program are carefully planned to meet the needs of young children for play, companionship, and individual attention. The program is flexible, recognizes children as individuals and provides for development at their own pace. There is a dependable sequence of daily events and a clear orderliness to the arrangement of equipment and materials to provide stability so that children can gain confidence in their surroundings. Emphasis is put on developing a positive self image in each child to foster competence, dignity, a sense of independence and pride in oneself.

Breakfast, lunch, and an afternoon snack are served. The center's meals meet all nutritional requirements of the Child and Adult Care Food Program sponsored by the New York State Department of Health.

The Viking Child Care Center has been designated by the NYS Child and Adult Care Food Program as a breastfeeding-friendly child care center.

The Viking Child Care Center at Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø provides safe, affordable and high-quality child care for Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø students and the community. The Viking Child Care Center is operated by the Faculty Student Association of Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø, Inc., a not-for-profit corporation.

Our 16,000-square-foot center opened in August 2001. We are located on Williams Road at the southeastern end of Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø's campus. The center's design was included in the 2002 American School and University Architectural Portfolio, which is touted as "the premier showcase for education design projects."

The center offers a cognitively-based program designed to meet each child's need for play, companionship and individual attention. The program is flexible, recognizes children as individuals, and provides opportunities for children to develop at their own pace.

Our staff recognizes the importance of a positive self image for each child, and the role it plays in fostering competence, dignity, a sense of independence and pride in oneself.

Above all our center staff recognizes that you are entrusting to our care your most precious gift, your child.

Mission Statement
The mission of the Viking Child Care Center is to provide safe, affordable, high quality child care for the students of Â鶹´«Ã½ÉçÇø and the community. IN doing so, we support families in their efforts to reach their goals.