You can tell Jessica Grubb is a college student—the sweatshirt and backpack give it away. You might guess from her spirit, her smile and her curls that she is a former cheerleader and sometime coach. The combination of Information Systems and French classes might suggest her major—international business—and the ring says she married.
But did you know she has two sons? It’s in her eyes. See the sparks there? A twinkle in each eye, one for Jeffrey; one for Seth. Her eyes look happy—a little tired, perhaps, but happy.
Grubb and student-parents like her have been changing the face of enrollment at colleges across the nation. They also are changing the types of services colleges and universities must offer, from flexible class schedules to married and family housing to childcare. Grubb’s sons spend their weekdays at Tot’s Place, an on-campus daycare/educational center on the first floor of Bishop Hall, open to students, faculty, staff and community. The convenience of on-campus daycare is critical for parents who balance work, school and family on a daily basis.

Always On the Run
Grubb wakes each morning at 5:45 a.m. in order to get the boys up and dressed, and make it to morning classes. Her husband, Jeff, works construction—he leaves early and gets home just about suppertime—so during the day, it’s all Mom. She drops off Jeffrey and Seth at Tot’s Place just before 8 a.m., where four-year-old Jeffrey sits down to his morning energy builder, prepared by a professional chef. Jeffrey is enrolled in the Northeast Michigan Community Service Agency’s (NEMCSA) Head Start program at Tot’s Place, thanks to an ongoing partnership between the two organization that began in Fall 1998.
Jessica heads to class-statistics or information systems, depending on the day. Today is Wednesday, so it’s ISYS. Mommy settles into her chair and boots up a computer.
Jeffrey joins his friends for playtime. Seth meets with his “family group” and sits down to a story. The family group consists of a small group of friends, all of whom are at the same developmental stage. The group is assigned a primary adult to attend to their personal and group needs.
At 9 a.m., Professor Novotny concludes his lecture. Jessica has one hour to slip home, eat, finish her homework and maybe begin today’s round of phone-tag as manager of East Campus Apartments. French class begins at 10 sharp.
At Tots Place, the Head Start group begins work in the activity center, drawing, cutting, pasting. Seth’s group is working on basic motor skills—he has perfected his crawling technique and now tries his hand at walking, with the help of his group leader.
Halfway through French class, Jessica has a decision to make: Go to the gym or the grocery store? Out of diapers and short on milk and cereal, at 11 a.m. she’ll head to the store. Pushing a cart and lugging milk jugs will do for exercise today.

In the Head Start room, Jeffrey turns the lights off and on again to signal clean-up time. Next is the morning sing-along—first the number song, then the month song, then a farmer’s song, about milking cows and those darn ticks.
At 11:30 it’s lunchtime—and time for a fresh diaper for Seth. Naps follow for all the kids. At half past 12, Jessica picks up Seth and heads home for her lunch. If he’s in a good mood, she’ll get her homework done before supper.
Its mid-afternoon. Mommy’s splitting her time between Seth and her studies, and Jeffrey is ready for some post-nap fun. He starts his activities with a farming puzzle, then turns to the toy farm animals—moooo! After that, he joins his friends at the activity center to build a house of Legos. At 4 p.m., the preschool group heads outside. Jeffrey and friends swing on the swing set, slide down the slide and play tag.
Shortly after 5 p.m., the children head inside and get ready to go home. Jeffrey grabs his drawing when Jessica and Seth arrive. By 5:30 the boys are enjoying a snack as Jessica starts dinner. Dad will be home from the construction site soon. Dinner is served at 6:30, and the whole family gathers for the meal.
The boys take their baths at 7:30, and hit the sack at 8 p.m.—sweet dreams for them, but for Mom, it’s back to work. Homework first, then her management duties: noise complaints, check-ins and check-outs, organizing social activities for the apartment residents and taking inventory.
At 11:30 Mommy heads to bed. Sleep will come quickly, and so will the morning.

Full-time Student; Working Mom
The convenience of on-campus daycare is a big plus for Grubb, but affordability is critical. That’s why a recent grant from the U.S. Department of Education is so important.
According to Tot’s Place Manager Lori Johnson, the $250,000 grant extends through September 2005, providing funding for improvement of services, staff training and most importantly, financial assistance for childcare costs to Pell-Grant-eligible student-parents.
“Roughly $46,000 of the grant will be available to help students with childcare costs in the first year,” said Johnson. “It will be distributed equally among the eligible students and will help greatly with meeting their need for affordable childcare.”
“On-campus daycare is very important to me, especially because we’re moving to West Campus Apartments, so we’ll be right there—I can walk the kids over instead of having to drive,” says Grubb. “I already have to get up early because I have 8 a.m. classes—now I have both of the boys at the same place, and drop them off at the same time. And it’s affordable—that’s extremely important.”
Tot’s Place provides academic support services, as well, including providing occasional evening childcare so parents can study, spend time in the computer lab or seek help from tutors in Bishop Hall.
Grubb has enough to worry about without dwelling on daycare—as a full-time student, manager of a University apartment complex, wife and mother, her days already run 18 hours and more. It’s comforting to know that while Grubb and her husband are out, the boys are in good hands.

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