Cradlerock Children’s Center Aims for Quality Education for All

From its current base at the Owen Brown Interfaith Center, Cradlerock Children’s Center is committed to providing affordable, high quality early childhood education to families in the Owen Brown community and throughout Howard County.

That’s according to Amanda Morton, the Center’s executive director and recent guest speaker at a meeting of the Columbia-Patuxent Rotary Club. The Center employs 27 staff currently, including some teachers that have been there since 2006. It's accredited by the Maryland State Department of Education, one of nine out of 356 centers to earn this distinction, and began as an outreach project of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia.

The church has continued to support the Center as it serves diverse families and works toward removing financial barriers so that all the children, regardless of background, have access to quality childcare.

“There is an MSDE voucher system set up to provide full tuition for families of low income. However, there is a gray area between those families that are $1 over the income limit, but that can't afford even a center like mine,” Amanda said. “That's the gray area that we give scholarships to. It’s a little rare for a nonprofit to be able to provide scholarships, but we're very intentional with our money, and we do set aside money to at least provide 50% scholarships to four to five children year after year.”

Amanda explained the Center's play-based, explorative Creative Curriculum and its focus on social and emotional grounding, critical thinking and executive functioning skills. The curriculum has been used for 20 years and has State Department of Education approval.

“Now, more than ever, we are intentional about raising children that have independent thoughts. We are raising children to be leaders. We are raising children to think for themselves and have their own opinions and to have those opinions valued and encourage them to talk through them,” Amanda said.

The Center has two special features: the STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) program, with its interdisciplinary approach and its impact on children's learning; and the Nourishing New Food program, which integrates nutrition, farming and fitness, highlighting commitment to the whole child. The center's vegetable garden and fitness course are practical ways to teach children about nutrition, sustainability and physical well-being.

Center success has spawned a need for expansion and relocation to accommodate more children. “We are at a point now where we are bursting at the scenes,” Amanda said. “We have over 120 people on the waiting list. The majority of my three-year-olds have waited three years to get into the center. We are not waiting for change. We're leading it by expanding our capacity from 87 children to 141. This allows us to serve more of the community and grants us the latitude to provide services to children with special needs. Additionally, this relocation creates job opportunities by adding 16 new staff.”

Amanda is inviting the community to get involved and support the center's vision. “We need you because this isn't just about one center. It's about what's possible, saving what matters most, the future of excellence in early childhood education,” she concluded.

Columbia-Patuxent Rotary is the largest and most active of Howard County's seven Rotary clubs. Amanda Morton is a club member.