Appalachian State's Child Development Center Expansion
App State's Child Development Center is expanding this fall to provide additional early care services to Appalachian students, staff and faculty. The expansion is on schedule to welcome 54 additional children and their families for the fall 2022 semester. The Center currently serves 68 children in the existing facility so the expansion will nearly double the capacity to serve AppState families.
When starting the planning process, Chancellor Sheri Everts said the university recognizes the importance of child care in recruiting and retaining highly qualified faculty, staff and students, and for allowing students to continue their education as they raise and expand their families. The Center’s operations are funded by sliding scale fees based on the income of the parents and families of the children.
The project supports the strategic plan of App State and the university’s goals and metrics associated with the University of North Carolina System’s strategic plan. It will benefit students, academics and the community.
About the New Facility
The center will be licensed for 54 additional children. The expansion will add five additional classrooms, a kitchen, laundry facilities, additional drop-off parking and staff/visitor parking, and new sidewalks around the new and existing buildings. Additionally, a new AppalCART bus stop will be placed at the center, providing greater access to and from the Center for those student parents and community families who rely on local transit.
Sitework began in the fall of 2021. The sections of the pre-fabricated building arrived at App State in December 2021 and are in place, with siding and a pitched roofed installed in early spring 2022. Workers have connected the building to its mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems and interior work for the building is substantially complete. The staff at the Center are now completing the furniture installation and classroom setup. Site work for the sidewalks, parking, playground space and landscaping are taking place over the next few weeks, with a phased opening of classrooms planned for August 2022, as they are approved by public health and licensed by the state.
Information for Interested Families
There are over 215 children already on the waitlist and several of those children have priority status. We follow a five-tier priority system when enrolling new children, starting with children in the No. 1 priority category, working down to No. 5 priority category, then moving to non-priority applicants based on when their enrollment application was submitted. For more details about applying for a spot at the Center, contact the Center at earlycare@appstate.edu.