The Early Childhood Education Center, as part of the Juniata College Education Department, serves as a practicum site for Juniata College students majoring in education. College students in the Center are enrolled in Child Development, Curriculum and Methods, Families and Teachers in Early Childhood, and Independent Study courses.

Juniata College students taking practicum courses at the Center, in order to meet degree requirements, enhance our well-qualified staff and add positive energy!  Most students are freshmen taking a course in Child Development, which is supplemented with a three hour per week practicum experience in the Center. These students are expected to learn appropriate interactions with the children, write objective anecdotal observations, and combine theory with practice. A smaller group of students are upperclassmen taking a course in Curriculum and Methods (fall semester), or Families and Teachers (spring semester). In the fall semester, these students write lesson plans, teach circle time, and facilitate the learning areas in the Center. The students in the spring semester complete case studies, with parental permission, on some of the children, facilitate projects with the children, and present evening workshops for families.

To help the families and children to get to know the college students, each student has a page s/he has created for our photo/scrapbook albums located in the reading learning area of the Center.

All staff and students are required to have health exams, criminal and federal background checks, and child-abuse clearances, as well as TB tests.