Bergen Community College

PARAMUS, N.J. – Bergen Community College has received a $185,150 New Jersey Economic Development Authority Child Care Facilities Improvement Program grant to renovate its Child Development Center (CDC), a nationally accredited early childhood learning facility at the College’s main campus in Paramus. The College will use the grant funds to install a new security and monitoring system and updated flooring throughout the facility. College officials plan unveil the capital improvements as part of the spring semester.

“I am incredibly grateful that the Child Development Center has been awarded with the NJDEA grant,” CDC Director Jessica Blundo said. “The improvements will significantly improve the health and safety of the CDC environment, ultimately leading to a cleaner and safer center for the students and families we serve.”

The CDC, which has provided an early childhood education program for students, faculty, staff and the surrounding community since 1982, features three classrooms with a total capacity of 45 young learners. The CDC is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

Blundo said much of the CDC has remained the same since its opening, aside from an addition completed in the 1990s. She credits the College’s grants department and Senior Grants Writer Mark Molisani for helping to secure the renovation funds.

“The CDC has needed these improvements for quite some time but has struggled to find funding to complete such major projects,” she said.

The renovations focus on improving the CDC’s safety and security, according to Blundo.

“The updated camera system will provide enhanced security and allow us to better monitor our center and the area around it in real time,” she said. “This will allow for greater security as well as provide parents with more peace of mind when they leave their children in our care.”

Meanwhile, Blundo said replacing linoleum and carpet with more durable and water-resistant vinyl plank flooring makes the CDC more hygienic – another investment in the facility’s safety.

“The updated floors not only present a more beautiful and welcoming environment, but they are less likely to collect germs, as they are much easier to clean,” she said.

Parents have appreciated the updates.

“They are excited to see these improvements being made, as they recognize that the work will ultimately lead to a cleaner and safer experience for their children,” Blundo said.

The CDC captured the attention of the federal government three years ago when federal officials, including First Lady Jill Biden, Ed.D., and U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona, Ed.D., visited the College to applaud the institution’s student support services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Alumna Kezia Rodriguez (’22), a student parent who benefited from the CDC childcare services and made such an impact on the First Lady during her visit to Bergen, received an invitation to the 2022 State of the Union Address and served as an invited guest of the White House in April 2023.

The NJ Child Care Facilities Improvement Fund is a component of the Child Care Revitalization Fund statute passed by the New Jersey State Legislature and signed into law by Governor Murphy in July 2021. The program provides grants to New Jersey childcare center providers for facilities improvements that expand the availability of high-quality early childhood learning environments.

For more information about Bergen’s CDC, visit bergen.edu/community/child-development-center.

Based in Paramus, Bergen Community College (www.bergen.edu), a public two-year coeducational college, enrolls more than 13,000 students at locations in Paramus, the Philip Ciarco Jr. Learning Center in Hackensack and Bergen Community College at the Meadowlands in Lyndhurst. The College offers associate degree, certificate and continuing education programs in a variety of fields. More students graduate from Bergen than any other community college in the state.

# # #