FAMU’s Educational Research Center for Child Development
(ERCCD)
Located on the highest of seven hills in Tallahassee, Florida A&M University provides a unique learning experience to all students, including the little children who are enrolled in the summer program at FAMU’s day care.
Founded in 1986 as New Beginnings, FAMU Educational Research Center for Child Development (ERCCD), whose mission is to provide a nurturing environment to all children to help them develop socially, physically, emotionally and intellectually, launched the 2018 ERCCD summer program on June 5. It is designed to help children continue to grow academically during the summer.
Director of the day care, Kenedria Thurman, said she is passionate about working with the children to help them sprout into intellectual individuals. According to Thurman, 60 children are enrolled in this year’s summer program, which is one of the largest summer enrollment turnouts.
A parent who wished to remain unidentified, said that many of ERCCD’s parents cherish the day care so much that some become long-term, even if it’s just to bring their child for the summer. “The care that this child care center provides to each child is so genuine that it makes you not want to take your child elsewhere,” said the parent.
Three-year-old preschooler Adora Richison was so engaged with her friends at the lunch table that she didn’t notice her mother enter the room to pay her a visit. The moment she looked up, she yelled, “Mommy, look! I’m eating with my friends!”
Filled with surprise, Adora’s mother, Elisabeth Richison, said, “usually Adora would run to me when she sees me, but I see that’s not the case today.”
Richison has relied on the day care for two years. “I enrolled my daughter in this daycare back in 2016 when it was called New Beginnings. Since then, her social skills have improved tremendously and she has grown in so many ways,” she said.
“Since enrolling my daughter here I haven’t thought twice about sending her to any other child care center, because ERCCD meets all my expectations and never fails to please me or my child,” she added.
While we live in a dangerous world, FAMU’s ERCCD promises a safe environment to everyone at the facility. Accordingly, to ensure safety, each parent and staff member is given a code that they are required to enter upon entering the day care.
Parents continue to take advantage of the benefits of the summer program, as it is set to end on Aug. 10.