Morning light shines into Western Washington University’s new Child Development Center building, where toddlers tumble through the door after their morning walk.
“We call this the nest, and the main building the roost,” said the center’s Director, Carolyn Mulder, affectionately describing how children move through the program as they grow.
The nest opened this summer as part of an expansion that added two new classrooms for children under 2 – an age group previously unserved at the center.
Funded through American Rescue Plan dollars, the project increases the center’s capacity by about 20 children and adds service for that critical young age group.
Across Whatcom County, childcare options for infants and toddlers are limited, Mulder said.
“On my waitlist alone, I had over 40 families who would have been eligible if we could have opened just six months earlier,” she said.
Emmanuelle Fincham, an assistant professor in Western’s early childhood education program, said the expansion fills a major gap in the community’s early learning network.
“This falls into a bigger movement – both in Bellingham and Whatcom County – of a real push for more quality birth to three spaces for parents and their children,” Fincham said. “It’s an exciting addition to the early care and education landscape of the area.”
Mulder agreed.
“The need for infant and young toddler care is critical,” she said. “It gives parents the right to go back to work and school, it provides children the opportunity to be in community with other children and it supports families in their overall success, because it builds community for them as well.”
Inside the nest, that philosophy of nurturing care shows up in the smallest details.
The new building was designed to feel welcoming and home-like. Lead teacher Leigh Montague, assistant teacher Rebecca DenBeste and student teacher Taryn Chitwood helped shape the classroom environment by prioritizing nature-based elements in the classroom.
“A lot of the families say, ‘Wow, it’s so cozy and nice in here, I feel really welcome in your classroom,’” Montague said.
The nature-based focus goes beyond classroom design and into teaching practices. All age groups at the center have time outdoors in their daily routine, including the infants and young toddlers in the nest.
“A lot of parents have the mentality that under a certain age, outside isn’t quite for kids yet, that it’s scary,” Chitwood said. “As teachers, it’s fun to show there’s safe ways to do it, and have fun, and learn things like cause and effect and learn their own boundaries.”
Looking ahead, they hope to expand the nest’s outdoor area and deepen ties with other campus programs like the Outback Farm. Montague said she’d love to create a natural climbing space using roots and tree stumps for toddlers to explore.
As Chitwood and Montague talked about the children in their classroom learning to walk, learning to climb, putting sand in their mouths and exploring the outdoors, they didn't stop grinning.
“It’s a little bit of chaos,” Chitwood said, “but it’s fun chaos.”
Ellie Wright is a second-year at Western studying News/Editorial Journalism and Political Science. As a reporter for The Front, she writes about campus news. When she’s not chasing stories, she enjoys reading, hiking, and taking care of her houseplants. You can reach her at ellie.thefront@gmail.com.
