Andrea Hawkins
Opinions Editor

Little Mavs, the Mesa State College child care facility, has seen its fair share of moves. With every big addition MSC goes through, Little Mavs packed up and set up shop in a different area of the school. The latest move happened at the beginning of the spring semester.
According to Sabrina Inda who has been the Little Mavs director for 12 years, the change is good.
The old facility was located in Wubben Hall next to the student center, and the new one is located in the old church directly on North Ave. They also share the building with the campus police station and parking services.
The new Little Mavs, although in an older building, has gone through a total face lift. Other than being designed by architect Amy Lentz, who based her design on children and what they would like, it also has doubled the square footage of the old facility.
“(Lentz) put in features I would have never thought of, like plastic guards on wall corners,” Inda said. “The kids like (the change) because it’s colorful and arranged different.” Inda also likes the abundance of storage in the new building.
According to Inda, parents were initially concerned with the new facility being located on North Ave. but after seeing how secure it is, their fears were quickly put to rest. Little Mavs has only one entrance, which they share with the campus police.
Little Mavs averages 65 to 70 children a day. However, they are licensed to care for 123 children in the bigger facility. It has two separate playgrounds, one for toddlers and the other for preschoolers. Little Mavs is licensed for toddlers who are 12 months and walking and preschool-aged children. There is a $30 registration fee and the cost per day ranges from $17-$24 for preschoolers and $22-$29 for toddlers.
Little Mavs reflects MSC and its growth. It started as a small day care in 1978 in the basement of a house where Monument Hall is now, and it has become a fully functioning day care and preschool that provides affordable service to faculty and students alike.
It not only provides services for parents but also is an opportunity for students to earn credits for their degrees. For a lab credit, nursing students do rotations, early childhood programs can do their student-teaching, and high schools in the area are able to use the facility for childhood development classes.
For more information on Little Mavs and the services they provide visit mesastate.edu/littlemavs.
u
apitchfo@mesastate.edu