Madison College’s $10 Million Early Learning Campus Opens in South Madison: Meeting the Long-Term Needs of Early Learning (Part 3 of 3)
Donna Jost, Director of Madison College’s Early Learning Campuses (l-r) and Kristina Ellis, site manager for the South Madison Early Childhood Campus
by Jonathan Gramling
On January 15, Madison College cut the ribbon on its $10 million Early Learning Campus adjacent to the Goodman South Campus in the former Madison firehouse. The center has 85-89 slots to serve infant to preschool children of Madison college student parents, staff and the surrounding community.
It’s a beautiful facility uniquely designed to serve the children and their parents. While the campus is strictly regulated on the number of slots that can be occupied by children at any given time, they have also designed some flexible space to meet the needs of student parents.
“There will be seven classrooms total,” said Donna Jost, director of Madison College’s Early Learning Campuses. “And then there will be one additional classroom that will be designated for drop-in care. That is new for the college. We’ve never done that. The campus has had campus-based childcare since 1989. The drop-in care came from a request from student parents who just need care while they meet with their advisor or are doing testing. And we do not have space for that at the Truax center. We are full and there is no space that we could identify to do that. So in the planning for South, we put that in the plan to begin with, so we have a dedicated room here where we can do that.”
Another design feature is that there is a space where the campus can assist the student parents in obtaining basic resources they need to take care of their children.
“We want to be able to help get them connected with those resources so that they are better able to focus on their child as well, whatever that might be,” Jost said. “So for our student parents, that same grant that I talked about having the tuition assistance, it also allows us to offer something called the Baby Basic Needs Closet. We can offer to our student parents — not just enrolled in the center — any student parent in the college diapers, wipes, formulas, things that are incredibly expensive and things that they cannot do without. I think at the last count during the last calendar year, we had almost 170 visits from different parents from the seven-campus region.”
While Jost oversees all of the campuses, on a day-to-day basis, Kristina Ellis will be watching over the children as the site manager. Ellis is well-experienced personally and professionally to anticipate and ensure that the campus provides high quality care.
“I went to school here at Madison College and graduated from the Early Child Education program,” Ellis said. “I didn’t just graduate from it, but also was a student parent when I was in the program. I’ve had plenty of mentors across the parking lot. I’ve had lots of support. So I absolutely understand that area of having quality child care and can empathize with all of the resources and support that are needed as a student parent.”
Ellis has had experience in a multitude of programs over the years.
“After graduating from the ECE program, my fourth practicum was at Meriter Children’s Center and continued on there after graduation,” Ellis said. “I spent 12-13 years there. I originally worked in the preschool room and then I became a float or a resource teacher. And I spent my last six years as an infant – toddler teacher.”
In order to get more experience as a child care administrator, transitioned to the Wil-Mar Neighborhood Center where she served as the director of youth programs. It was a center that she was well-acquainted with.
“I spent time at Wil-Mar as a child myself,” Ellis recalled. “It was already part of my upbringing. My son also attended Wil-Mar, so I was reconnected with Wil-Mar.”
As the director of youth programs, Ellis has been responsible for overseeing three programs: their after school and summer program for elementary and middle school youth, their summer drop-in program for teens and their teen program that gets teens involved in their community. This i9s familiar ground for her.
“What makes someone a good administrator is someone who has done the work,” Ellis said. “They understand the needs of the teachers and what it feels like being in the classroom and the support and resources that are needed. It’s important to be a people person and connecting with the staff and building a great culture within the center and a healthy work environment while making sure that we are always doing the best practices and creating a healthy environment for our families and children.”
For Ellis, it’s all about the relationships.
“Service means being intentional about everything you do as far as best practices and modeling go,” Ellis said. “It’s getting to know families and giving respect to families so that we can be of best service to them. We have to get to know them and listen to their needs so that we know how to best serve them.”
Ellis must also take care of the administrative side of things.
“Doing the paperwork is very important,” Ellis said. “There are certain deadlines and all the paperwork that are extremely important. But in my mind, I am always thinking about the people and being of service to the people without forgetting the ins and outs of the responsibility of the job.”
But that doesn’t mean that she will be sitting behind a desk all day.
“I will still be able to interact with the kids,” Ellis said. “Part of supporting families, teachers and the children, is taking time to be in each classroom to get to know the children. By getting to know them, it helps guide the teachers and support anything that comes up in terms of concerns. If you don’t know the children, it’s hard to support the staff. It’s important to walk the halls. There are a lot of little people around here. I just need to make sure that things are going well, which I am sure they will. We have a great staff with a lot of experience. I have to be present. You can’t just hide out in your office. You have to make yourself available.”
Ellis is very personable and friendly, always greeting people with a beautiful smile. And it took others to bring out the potential in Ellis
“I never dreamed I would be doing this,” Ellis said. “I’m pretty quiet. I am an introverted person. And I love being in the classroom. Different directors and bosses that I have had were like, ‘I really think you will be a director some day.’ And I said, ‘Absolutely not.’ I just didn’t see myself in the role. But as you grow and you want more for yourself and just the passion you have for the field and you want to keep promoting and advocating for that high quality care and best practices. I didn’t dream of it, but I have definitely walked into this path and it’s just been great.”
Ellis is excited about making her contribution to her alma mater, helping to create a place where children are safe, cared for and grow.
“It’s really great to help build the campus from the ground up,” Ellis said. “It’s a lot. It’s very busy. It’s a lot of work. But it is so cool to be able to build together with our whole team. And we can always look back to know where we started and know where we are in thinking about where we are going to go.”
Directing the South Madison Early Childhood Campus is a dream come true as she works to create an important resource for the student parents who are coming after her. It’s a unique opportunity for Ellis to give back, an opportunity she is well prepared to take advantage of.
For more information about the South Madison Early Childhood Campus, email Kristine Ellis at kellis9@madisoncollege.edu.