GSAS Registration Issue Two Radcliffe Child-Care Centers Will Serve Students, Employees

As many as four child-care centers may soon be open for pre-school children who have one or more parents associated with either Radcliffe or the Harvard School of Education.

Two of the centers, one at Currier House and one at the Radcliffe Gymnasium, are already fully planned and scheduled to open on October 5.

Though the centers are currently envisaged for the children of Radcliffe students, personnel, and alumnae only, children of other mothers associated with the University may also be considered if there are empty places.

And, for those parents who can't get space, the Radcliffe Extension School is offering four half courses-starting this semester-on how to organize a day-care center.

Both centers will be subsidized by Radcliffe. But there will be a charge of $20 per week for half-day care and $30 for full-day care, with suitable adjustments according to income.

The Lyman Center (Currier House) will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will accommodate 16 children, aged one to four, who have a parent connected with the House. This includes the children of students, Faculty, tutors, and the House kitchen and housekeeping staff.

Community

According to Jerome Bruner, professor of Psychology, the new master of Currier House, and an authority on child development, "We want to make the House more of a community, one in which the children of the community are looked after as well as their parents."

Bruner is assisting in developing the curriculum for the center. But he would like to involve many others from the House in running the center and in investigating child development. "I would like to see more students thinking ahead to how they will want to raise their children and about how to aid human development," he said yesterday.

The Gymnasium center will be open in the mornings from 8:30 to 11:50 and will accommodate 25 slightly older children, aged two-and-a-half to five, whose parents are either Radcliffe alumnae or associated with any of the buildings that circle the Radcliffe Yard.

The gymnasium center grew out of the suggestions made by members of a Radcliffe alumnae group called New Opportunities for Women.

According to Frances H. Howe, a Radcliffe alumna and the coordinator for the two centers, "NOW (not to be confused with the national women's organization) was concerned about alumnae who were at home looking after their children but felt trapped."

"Some found that having a child eliminated their opportunities to achieve career positions in a highly competitive world. The awareness of

this fired a lot of the younger alumnae to organize a center," she said.

Mrs. Howe added that she hoped the child-care centers would tend to facilitate the hiring of more younger women in the University.

Two other child-care centers may be located at Comstock Hall and at the School of Education. The Comstock center-if opened-will be a continuation of a cooperative group started there last year. The Ed School Center is in need of space.

In an interview yesterday, Mary I. Bunting, President of Radcliffe, expressed the hope that, aside from basic utilities, the centers would be self-sufficient, so they could serve as a model for the community.

"I do not subscribe to the theory that universities should be responsible for providing day care for all people connected with them," Mrs. Bunting said. "I think that this should be the responsibility of the community with the university, perhaps, providing the leadership."

She added that she would like to see the centers open to the community and that some people in the School of Education are currently working on this.