Something about the college environment evokes a strange sort of nostalgia for the carefree days of childhood—and on some lucky days while walking to class at Wesleyan, students can catch a glimpse of throngs of toddlers parading from one preschool to the next, skipping along Lawn Ave. hand in hand. The University-affiliated preschools, fondly called the Neighborhood Preschool, has been taking care of Wesleyan employees’ children for the last twenty years.
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., according to Director of The Neighborhood Preschool Karyn Hulbert Bidwell, about 58 kids attend the preschool, ninety percent of whom are Wesleyan-affiliated.
“As long as you get a paycheck from Wesleyan, you have what’s called the ‘priority’ in enrolling,” she said. “We enroll in the Wesleyan community first, and then after that sell the extra slots to the community.”
The University and the Neighborhood Preschool have been affiliated since 1989 when the University invited the preschool to move into facilities on campus in return for priority admission for children of Wesleyan employees, according to the preschool’s website.
“What’s great about Neighborhood Preschool is that they serve not just Wesleyan, but Middletown,” said Professor of Film and father of three Scott Higgins. “But there’s such a long waitlist to get your kid into Neighborhood Preschool. If you are not associated with Wesleyan, you need to get on that list well before your child is born and then hope for the best.”
The program the preschool uses focuses on play rather than a pre-academic approach, a technique many preschools and infant and toddler programs utilize. Research has shown that play not only aids a child’s social skills and the development of creativity, but also leads to higher IQs and more effective problem solving. It allows children to not only be more relaxed, but generally happier and healthier as well, parents say.
“They’re fantastic at taking kids who’ve never been in a preschool or an infant daycare situation before and creating a family around them,” Higgins said. “I know that they’re learning something and they’re not just being told to not throw things. It makes it possible to be an academic and a parent when you have a place to send your kids, and know they’re being well taken care of.”
Higgins’ children have been going to the Neighborhood Preschool for twelve years, cumulatively. Aged two through nine, they have all been enrolled at the school at some point over the past twelve years.
The preschool also offers an opportunity for Wesleyan students to interact with professors’ children. The University’s Dance Teaching Practicum course requires each student in the class to teach the preschoolers in the dance studio. In the past, students have visited to read stories in Spanish, teach weekly music classes, and sometimes just play. Program houses, such as sign language house, occasionally venture over to spend some time with their significantly younger neighbors.
“I do know some of the kids of some professors,” said Jonathan Katz ’11, who has worked at the preschool since his freshman year. “It’s always interesting to see them pick their kids up and to hear their kids talk about their parents.”
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