HCC teacher Roselle Escobar prepares for the the “new” school year during “in-service” days. With 21 years at HCC, Escobar says she and the Center “grew up together.” “I was just a kid when I started here. I went through college while I was here. I got my citizenship. My license. My family. And I love that so many kids come back just to visit, others send their own children here now, and others have come back to work here!” Photo by Andrea Worker.
The Herndon Children’s Center (HCC), caring for and educating area kids from 3 months to pre-school, has been “building a family” for 25 years in the same location off of Spring St. in Herndon. “It really is like home – with a really big family!” says Jen Larco, who will be guiding a pre-school class at the Center this year. Larco knows what she’s talking about. She is a “graduate” of the Center herself, having attended the facility from infant to the age that she will now be teaching. Her colleague, Ashley Thorpe, who is a Pre-K assistant, also attended HCC. “I think I started in the toddler class,” she recalls.
In case Larco and Thorpe can’t remember all the details of their early experiences at HCC, there are quite a few staff members who can help them out, like teacher Roselle Escobar who has been there for 21 years, or “Ms. Betty,” the Kitchen Manager, who has been with HCC since the beginning. Turnover among the staff is so low in fact, that Asst. Director Yvanna Olson Yearout reports that more than 33 percent of them have been there more than 10 years.
“That’s an accomplishment already in our industry,” noted Center director Cornelia Vasilcoiu. Vasilcoiu is actually the newest member of the team, but she has many years of experience with other facilities, both government-supported and privately owned chain care centers. “I took my time finding the right new place for me, and they took their time choosing me. There is a great atmosphere here, everybody working together for the safety, education and well-being of the children.”
Vasilcoiu and Olson Yearout attribute that atmosphere and the continuing success of HCC in part to the “great partnership between staff and parents.” The school is actually directed by a volunteer board of parents. “Of course,” said Olson Yearout, “it’s the experts in the field that develop the curriculum for the (National Association for Education of Young Children accredited) school, “but the board is involved in every aspect. They are the governing body.”
A higher-than-required adult-to-child ratio in each of the classes is also part of their guiding strategy. “We can really supervise them, as well as get to know each child, help them succeed and grow based on who they are,” stated Vasilcoiu. “We are interactive, employing a play-based and creative curriculum,” added Olson Yearout.
With almost 12,000 square feet of space, neatly divided and organized by age groups, and two large playgrounds - as well as what Olson Yearout describes as a “get the wiggles out Movement Room,” - HCC offers plenty of room to learn and grow. “Come visit us,” Vasilcoiu invites. “See the difference here, how they have built a community. I have never seen anything like it in all my years of child care.”