Vicki Gibson, director of the Charlotte Sharp Children's Center, and Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath.
Texas Commissioner of Education Mike Morath discussed the work and success of the Charlotte Sharp Children’s Center (CSCC) during a visit to the facility on Aug. 9, 2021. Morath toured the center with John Sharp, chancellor of The Texas A&M University System; Vicki Gibson, the center’s director; and Joyce Alexander, dean of Texas A&M’s College of Education and Human Development. The visit was focused on observing the center’s practices in the hopes of replicating them throughout the state, Morath says.
The CSCC is a privately owned, state-licensed preschool that provides nurturing environments, nationally recognized curriculum and inquiry-based learning for children ages 2 through 6. The center partners with Texas A&M faculty to provide training opportunities for early childhood educators.
“One of the things that you see here that is extremely rare in most pre-K settings is the focus on teacher development and teacher training,” Morath says. He compares the center’s facilities to a teaching hospital, where current and future educators can unobtrusively observe and learn from classroom interactions. “That is an extraordinary practice that we would like to see more of,” he adds.
The CSCC’s mission to enhance the quality of early childhood education aligns with Morath’s goals, he says. He created the Texas Education Agency’s first early childhood division focused on expanding support for early educators. “Given our work statewide to bring multiple parties to the table related to early childhood partnership opportunities, we wanted to see what Texas A&M had created here,” he explains. “You bring together one of the best schools of education in the state of Texas with extraordinarily skilled leaders in early childhood.”
“What I think is special about this is your emphasis on early childhood education and training teachers around the state for that purpose, and I think what’s happening here is exactly what is in your vision,” Sharp adds.
Established in 2020 as the Collaborative Learning Center, the CSCC was renamed this past April in honor of Charlotte Sharp, Chancellor Sharp’s late wife, for her work focused on children and the community. The preschool is the first stage of a larger project that will eventually include four senior living facilities. The result will be an intergenerational learning center where senior citizens, young children, families, and Texas A&M students work together to improve healthy living and foundational learning, according to the center’s website.
Texas A&M is further expanding its commitment to early childhood education with a new program, aimed to launch in fall 2022, adds Alexander. “We’ll be working on the curriculum over the next year,” she says. “[The program will] focus only on early childhood through grade three with a real focus on reading.”
The center plans to further serve the community by increasing its collaboration with College Station and Bryan ISDs, Gibson says. “It’s really a community-based effort to set a model that can be affordable and replicable to help others in other cities provide this early jumpstart to how to become a learner,” she adds.
Following the tour, the commissioner held a roundtable discussion with Sharp, representatives from The Texas A&M University System, the College of Education and Human Development, early childhood educators, and center representatives. “The Charlotte Sharp Center is truly unique and extraordinarily positive for young children,” Morath says. “I’m honored to be here and see it.”
