Elon University to open child care center in 2025

New Benefit for Parents

Elon University is enhancing the amenities for its faculty, staff and students who are parents with the addition of a new on-site child care center that is scheduled to open in Spring 2025.

The new child care center will be built on South Campus and will serve children who are infants through age two once it is completed in Spring 2025. The center will be operated by Vivvi, a child care service provider that operates its own campuses and provides on-site care and learning services to employers nationally.

The center will initially enroll up to 30 children, and the university plans to expand capacity and serve older children in future phases of the initiative. Parents who are interested in learning more about the center, its services and Vivvi can visit a new website about the partnership. On this website, parents can also fill out a form to express their interest in enrolling their child, sign up to receive more information about the center and be notified when the center begins accepting enrollment applications and announces the official open date.

Addressing Child Care Accessibility

“This announcement brings to fruition a longstanding goal of the university to provide employees with quality and accessible child care,” said Elon President Connie Ledoux Book. “These steps ensure that Elon remains a best place to work and thrive for our faculty and staff. I’m also excited to see all the positive engagement the new child care center will bring to our community in the years ahead”

In growing communities like Alamance County, child care solutions have become increasingly difficult for parents to find. Having a center on campus for Elon employees and students will help alleviate some of the burden that comes as parents seek out affordable and convenient child care options.

“There is a shortage of quality child care centers in our area and across the United States,” said Janet Williams, vice president for finance and administration and chief financial officer. “Our main focus right now is to address this issue for infants, toddlers and twos. We want to establish a child care center specifically for them in phase one.”

Offering an employer-sponsored child care center will not only support Elon employees and students, it will also create a nurturing environment for their children.

“These steps ensure that Elon remains a best place to work and thrive for our faculty and staff.”

Elon is committed to offering a five-star facility, the highest rating for child care centers in North Carolina, with experienced teachers, space for outdoor play and group activities and children’s classrooms designed for learning and development.

“Elon employees will be able to perform their best and focus on their work knowing their children are receiving five-star care close by,” said Kelli Shuman, associate vice president for human resources and chief human resources officer.

Elon selected Vivvi as its partner in the initiative due to its ability to support Elon employees and students with child care and early childhood education that is flexible and meets parents where they are.

“Elon’s investment in on-site child care signifies its commitment to the health and well-being of its student body, faculty and staff,” said Charles Bonello, Vivvi co-founder and CEO. “Flexible, high-quality child care not only enhances long-term career opportunities for working parents, but also positively impacts the lives of the next generation—the children of Elon’s students, staff and faculty.”

The need for high-quality child care in the area is significant. It took Elon faculty member Jason Husser over a year to secure a spot in a local child care center for his child due to high demand. An associate professor in the Department of Political Science and Policy Studies, Husser serves on the Elon committee comprised of faculty and staff that was tasked with developing a plan for the university to provide on-site child care. He and his wife juggled child care between themselves while balancing work needs for the year that they waited for their child to be accepted to one of the many child care centers that they were on the waitlist for.

“It struck me firsthand how important it is to have a child care center for employees,” Husser said. “Elon is invested in the well-being in its community and providing support for our youngest is key. We want to provide a valuable and meaningful five-star educational experience for the children of our employees and students.”

The North Carolina Division of Child Development and Early Education reports that North Carolina has one of the highest rates of working mothers with young children compared to the national average. The rising cost of care, coupled with the challenges of high demand, can result in parents dropping out of the workforce. “Having a child care center will help us attract and retain talented individuals and maintain a positive workplace culture,” Williams said.

Husser expects that the launch and growth of the child care center will generate opportunities for collaboration within the university community. “Beyond having a great resource for faculty and staff families, I’m most looking forward to having the intellectual collaborations we’ll see between campus entities,” he said.