Delaware first lady helps UD's Early Learning Center celebrate 20th anniversary

Delaware first lady Tracey Quillen Carney visited the University of Delaware’s Early Learning Center last week to celebrate Literacy Month and mark the center’s 20th anniversary.

During her Sept. 19 visit, Carney read to the students from her children’s book “Books for Blue” and took a tour of the Wyoming Road facility. She also promoted her First Chance Delaware initiative, which aims to ensure that all of Delaware’s children have a “first chance” to succeed.

“First Chance seeks to promote quality, early language experiences toward healthy brain development and school readiness,” Carney said. “We know that there are incredible windows of opportunity, with long-term implications, during early childhood. Kids aren’t just learning the fundamentals of reading, they’re learning how to read the world.”

The Early Learning Center serves 220 kids, ranging from infants to pre-K, and also offers before and after care programs for kids up to second grade. Many of the students are the children of UD employees, but the ELC is open to all local residents.

“The purpose is making sure that families are able to trust and know that really loving caregivers and professionals in education are working with their children in those first foundational years,” said Jessica Peace, co-director of the ELC.

The ELC is also a “learning laboratory” that allows UD students and even local high school students studying early childhood development to do internships at the center, Pearce said.

“That’s huge, because then we’re just building our workforce from within,” she said. “They’re learning firsthand in a high-quality program.”

The ELC is located on UD’s “Children’s Campus” on Wyoming Road, along with the UD Laboratory Preschool and The College School, which serves grades one through eight.