School, Childcare Center Share Campus

A shared-facilities arrangement between the Columbus (Ohio) school system and Ohio State University has resulted in a new elementary school and an adjacent childcare center operated by the university.

The Schoenbaum Family Center at Weinland Park opened in August and is operated by the university's College of Education and Human Ecology. It is adjacent to the newly constructed Weinland Park Elementary School, which the Columbus district opened during the 2006-07 school year.

The center provides childcare and early education for up to 88 children from birth to age 5, and provides opportunities for collaboration across programs for children birth through fifth grade. In addition, the center houses the A. Sophie Rogers Laboratory for Child and Family Studies, where college students learn about the cognitive, physical, social and emotional development of young children.

The center also is working with the elementary school to offer services to residents in the surrounding neighborhood, which is beset by poverty and unemployment.