Families, Staff Settling into New Children’s Center

The UWM Childrens Learning Center opened its doors to a brand new environment in the Northwest Quadrant last winter, ending the Learnng Center’s 40-year run at the old building located on Kenwood Avenue. And parents and staff members say they’re thrilled with the change.

That building was originally designed for university uses for classes and instead it became a home for the children of the University’s students.

The new building has been designed for the children this time around, and the parents and teachers could not be happier about that. Ben La Duke is a member of the Learning Center’s faculty and he is also a parent of one of the children that attends the Learning Center.

“The building was built for our purpose, it’s not a space we had to move into and make our own. The architects took our comments, questions, and even our concerns when they designed this for us,” said La Duke

The new Learning Center has bigger and more organized classrooms, and a lot more space in between classrooms. The best new feature, according to those interviewed, might be the vastly improved gymnasium.

The old “gym” had low ceilings and was about the third of the size as the new gym. The new gym has a basketball hoop, with high ceilings, a nice hardwood floor, and a building block area too. There are also other toys and entertainment options available too, including a quiet lobby area with computers right outside the gym.

The new building was also built with handicapped and disabled kids in mind. Luisana Wauka has a daughter who has cerebral palsy and the old building was not exactly accommodating to her daughter.

“This building is just overall more accessible than the old building, the easier entrance through the parking lot, the elevators are also a nice help,” she said. “I like that they have areas where the kids can breakaway now, and it’s really helpful for my daughter.”

The change from the old building to the new building puts the Learning Center more at the heart of the UWM campus. The building is located in the Northwestern Quadrant Building, which also takes on regular campus life too, There is a study area a Grind coffee shop and classrooms, and the Director of the Children’s Learning Center, Lisa Mosier, believes this is a good thing.

“We are at the heart of the camps now, and it gives us a lot better visibility in the community. Plus the students love being apart of the campus and seeing the students going about their daily business.” said Mosier.”

The building is not without its problems though, as parents and faculty alike both agree that parking at the building is in need of improvement and is a major downgrade from the old building where there was a much bigger parking lot located directly behind the building.

Another problem is that the playground is caught in the middle of a wind tunnel, but the officials believe they can fix this problem by planting trees to block the wind out. They do not see this being a major issue in the future but for right now it is an issue that they need to address.

They only other major issue with moving was losing the old building which had housed 40 years of children. The faculty, children, parents, and former attendees all agree that, though the old building was not perfect, it was a home, and they have many fond memories of the old building.

They did bring a piece of the old building with them when they moved. They brought a rowboat that had been in one of the prairies over to the new building and hope to add it to the new prairies that they want to add in the future.

“The hardest part about moving into a new place is getting used to, and that takes time,” said La Duke.