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Madison College will soon open a new child care center at its Goodman South Campus, offering expanded support for student-parents, staff, and the broader community.
“We have a ribbon cutting on January 15,” Jessica Cioci, Dean for the School of Human and Protective Services, said in a recent interview, “and we’ll be starting with children … January 20.”
The facility is part of a years-long effort by the college and city partners to bring licensed child care to the South Madison campus.
The Early Learning Campus will be housed in the former Fire Station 6 building, adjacent to the Goodman South Campus, which the college purchased two years ago.
“This is the first step, a large step, in expanding Goodman South Campus’ capacity in meeting this crucial need,” former Madison College President Jack E Daniels said when the purchase was announced.
Donna Jost, campus childcare administrator, traced the long journey of campus child care. “The college has actually been offering campus based childcare since 1989,” first contracting with a provider and ultimately taking over the program directly.
The new center will open with three classrooms and ultimately expand to seven.
Child care at Goodman South is intended to prioritize college families. “Our student parents are first … Staff and faculty are a second priority, and community after that,” Jost explained.
Cioci emphasized the broader context. “There’s such a shortage of qualified providers … that’s something that we’re facing as well,” she said, acknowledging workforce challenges common across the state.
The new Early Learning Campus is scheduled to serve infants to preschool-age children and will have capacity for more than 80 children.
Beyond regular care, the campus plans to expand offerings.
“We are committed to developing a drop in care program in the same building,” Cioci said, noting that this feature responds to student-parent needs identified through surveys and focus groups.
Jost also highlighted operational flexibility.
“We also have a flexible enrollment schedule. Our minimum enrollment is two days per week … which is not the case in a traditional childcare setting,” she said.
Additionally, the rates for care will be on a sliding scale based on family income.
Representatives expressed enthusiasm about the new space itself. “One of the things … that it can still reflect the history as a fire station … those are all glass, basically windows in there now,” Jost said, describing design elements that honor the building’s past.
The space will also provide opportunities for early childhood education students to observe and work in classrooms, and will also provide meeting space for those students and educators.
