UW-Madison Child Care System: Open House Tours & Networking

Each campus child care center will have bagels, cream cheese, coffee, and gluten free granola bars available beginning at 8:00 a.m.

• Campus child care center staff are encouraged to start the day at their own center.
• Other campus participants are welcome to begin their day at any of our three campus child care centers.
• Off-campus participants or those in need of parking can park for free in Lot Z  in Eagle Heights and begin their open house tours with Eagle’s Wing.

Open house tours will be self-guided, although campus center directors and admin team members will be available to answer questions.

Each center will have small stations to showcase curriculum, materials, and initiatives.

Participants are encouraged to use the free Bus #80 and #84 to travel to each center as parking is limited. You can set your own schedule for these drop-in open house tours.

Lunch will be served in the Four Lakes Market dining space in the Dejope Residence Hall which has various dietary options to choose from, and is all you can eat. You can choose to eat lunch anytime between 11:30 am-1:30 pm. and use the remaining time for self-care.

Meal Ticket: As you enter Four Lakes Market, stop at the cash register and let them know you are part of our event with this code: EAGLESWING23.

Seating: There will be several tables reserved for our group along the window in the Lake Mendota Room which is just off of the main dining area, but you can sit wherever you like. Please note, if you choose to sit at the tables outside, the doors to the cafeteria are locked from the outside and you will need to re-enter the building through the front doors to return your tray.

Self-care time: Network with peers, walk along the lakeshore path, visit the Allen Centennial Garden, or visit the Dejope coffee shop . . . use this time as you wish. The Frank Holt Center will be reserved for our group beginning at 12:00 p.m. so you are also welcome to relax in this space before we officially meet there at 1:30 p.m.

During this time participants will break into small groups based on the age of the group they work with (less than 2 years old, 2-3 years-old, 3-4 years-old, and 4K).

Participants can choose which group they want to meet with, and can split time between more than one group.

Faculty, students, or other non-childcare center visitors can join any group or debrief together.

The final part of the day will be reserved for campus and network child care center staff. Child care center directors will be in charge of determining how to best utilize this time for their teams (e.g., use for weekly staff meeting, debrief open house tours, team building, self-care, etc.)

Following the event, we’ll provide an online feedback survey for your insights. We appreciate your feedback!