This is an aerial view of the new NIH Northwest Child Care Center.
The NIH Northwest Child Care Center opened its doors in July 2017 as a new, state-of-the-art day care facility for children (6 weeks through 5 years of age) of parents or legal guardians who are NIH employees. The center accommodates up to 170 children and is open from Monday to Friday from 7:30 am - 6:00 pm. It is located on the NIH campus in Building 23, on Center Drive between The Children's Inn at NIH and the NIH Fire Station.
The children enrolled at center are placed in classrooms according to their age group — infants, toddlers, 2-year-olds, and pre-school. Each classroom is designed with an open floor plan and is sun-drenched by skylights and extra-large windows overlooking the four playgrounds and the natural landscaping in the private inner courtyard of the facility.
While the NIH funded the building and maintains the upkeep of the structure, the program is actually provided by a private non-profit organization, Rockville Day Care Association, Inc.
"To ensure that the parents and the children get the best benefit of receiving quality care in an NIH-sponsored child care center, we will also establish a board of directors of parents for the Rockville Day Care Association, Inc.," said Tonya S. Lee, Program Manager Program Manager of the Child and Family Programs in the NIH Office of Research Services.
The center aspires to be a best practice child development center with a program designed to foster social, emotional, physical, creative and intellectual development through play and exploration.
On June 26, 2017, the center opened with 30 children from the T-46, Infant and Toddler Center. Starting July 24, 2017, the center began enrolling children from the wait list and will continue accepting children in increments of 20-40 children each month until capacity is reached. This process may take until September 2017 to be completed as they are also in the process of hiring qualified staff.
For more information about the Northwest Child Care Center, contact 301-480-5447 or visit www.rockvilledaycare.org.
For information about the Northwest Child Care Center wait list, contact 1-800-777-1720 or visit https://www.ors.od.nih.gov/pes/dats/childcare/Pages/waitlist_info.aspx
If you need child care services and would like information on the services and resources that may be available to you, visit the NIH Child and Family Programs website or contact the NIH Child and Family Programs team at 301-402-8180.