University Celebrates Early Childhood Development Center Anniversary

A&M-Corpus Christi celebrated the 10th anniversary of the opening of its award-winning Blanche Davis Moore Early Childhood Development Center in January with a program and reception in the school’s Math and Science Resource Center.

The Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC), which includes students age 3 to 5th grade, is the only school in the Corpus Christi Independent School District (CCISD) that presents its entire curriculum via dual-language education. All students’ instruction is split evenly between Spanish and English every day.

In addition to the elementary school, the two-story, 50,000-square foot building houses professors, student workers, and support staff for two departments of the College of Education: the Curriculum and Instruction Department and the Counseling Department. Four classrooms and a computer lab on the second floor are used for university classes.

Last year, the school on the A&M-Corpus Christi campus was expanded to include a new center to help address the shortage of certified math and science teachers in Texas. The Center houses classrooms, science and math labs, a wet lab, a children’s discovery lab and exhibit areas. Outside laboratory “nodes” are planned to provide K-16 students with hands-on experiences dealing with air, soil and water.

 “The ECDC aims its teaching at the whole child,” said Principal Christine Marroquin. “It is important to target not just academic success of the student, but also their social, emotional, and physical well-being.”