History
The Child Care Program began with a pilot program created in March 1972 to meet the needs of Ohio State faculty, staff, and students. The program began with 85 children in a church at 1895 Summit Street. The program filled quickly until the capacity of 95 was reached. The center expanded to 138 in 1975 and again in 1980 to serve 190 children. In 1985, the university administration decided to build a child care center capable of caring for 300 children at any one time. The ground breaking took place August 13, 1986, and the first children were enrolled in classrooms beginning August 31, 1987. In January 1995, an addition to the center added a further 20 spaces.
In January 2005, the Program expanded from a single-site to a multi-site organization. The Buckeye Village Family Community Center houses the Buckeye Village site of the child care program. A short walk from the Ackerman Road building, the Buckeye Village building increases the number of infant, toddler and preschool spaces allocated to children of faculty, staff and students by 115. In addition to child care, the Buckeye Village Family Community Center houses the Buckeye Village Administrative offices, the ACCESS program and community space for Buckeye Village residents.
The Child Care Program is currently a department of the Office of Human Resources and reports to the Associate Vice President for Human Resources. Annual subsidies and lease-back payments on the Ackerman Road building are provided by The Ohio State University and the University Hospitals.
