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To cap off her first course at Rollins, Shannae Greene ’25 and her classmates were tasked with a presentation that would answer the question: “How would you make the world a better place?” Greene knew immediately how she’d respond to the prompt: evening childcare to help empower working families.

“Childcare is always 6 to 6, so what about people who work swing shifts or different hours?” asked Greene, a business management major. “So many people struggle with childcare, so I thought after-hours childcare was something that could really help a modern family.”

Greene’s presentation on nontraditional childcare was a passion project that hit close to home. During her time in the Air Force, Greene was required to work 24-hour rotating shifts, and she struggled to find reliable childcare for her young daughter because of her unusual schedule.

With few childcare options available to meet her demanding work schedule, Greene was forced to retire from the military. She began working full-time as a property manager and enrolled as a student in Rollins Professional Advancement, a suite of flexible and affordable bachelor’s degree programs specifically designed for working adults.

Not long after her presentation, Greene discovered that Rollins was launching an evening childcare program for students in the College’s Hamilton Holt School, which administers Rollins’ Professional Advancement and Graduate Studies programs.

She quickly enrolled her 5-year-old daughter, Rylii.

“It’s been a struggle for me, honestly,” says Greene. “Since she was born, I’ve struggled with childcare, and this program made it so I could go to school. For me, this is life-changing.”

Flexibility to Thrive

Launched this fall thanks to a gift from the Warren and Augusta Hume Foundation, Rollins’ Evening EduCare program offers high-quality childcare for children ages 5 to 11 while their parents attend evening classes on campus.

The program, which is housed in the Hume House Child Development & Student Research Center on campus, operates Monday through Thursday from 4:15 to 9:30 p.m. Parents can enroll their children in nine different time blocks—all of which start and end within 15 minutes of Rollins’ evening class times.

For the fall 2024, spring 2025, and summer 2025 semesters, the program costs just $5 per hour. Thanks to the Hume Foundation’s gift, the program will be free for eligible students beginning in fall 2025.

The program’s goal is not only to serve students currently enrolled in Rollins’ Professional Advancement and Graduate Studies programs but also to make it possible for more adult learners to realize their dreams of finishing a bachelor’s or master’s degree.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, most parents, regardless of their kids’ ages, have no childcare arrangement, and 47 percent of adults say that a lack of childcare is a barrier to enrolling in college. Yet few institutions offer similar programs.

“To my knowledge, there is no other service like this in the Central Florida community,” says Alice Davidson, a Rollins psychology professor and executive director of Hume House. “There are some schools with daycare programs, but what sets this apart is the evening care that runs until 9:30 p.m., and it’s of high quality.”

It’s a level of quality that Greene and her daughter responded to immediately.

“At her after-school program, every time I pick her up, she’s off by herself and they watch a lot of TV,” says Greene. “The quality at Rollins is way better, and the people actually care about her. There are no iPads, which I love, and the attention she gets is more positive.”

Set Up for Success

Parents aren’t the only ones the EduCare program is designed to support. It was also created to help their children thrive.

“Many after-school programs are designed primarily to keep children safe, often with high child-to-adult ratios and limited enrichment activities,” says Davidson. “Our goal is to provide an inclusive, developmentally appropriate environment for school-age children that nurtures their academic, physical, social, and emotional growth.”

To meet this goal, the EduCare team focuses on engaging activities for children that range from science and nature exploration to arts and crafts, math games, music, and movement—all of which are formatted to align with national standards like the School-Age Care Environment Rating Scale (SACERS).

The EduCare staff is led by Laurie Pritchard, an early childhood professional with more than 25 years of experience in the field, including two decades of classroom experience and six years in administration. In addition to Pritchard, the EduCare team also includes experienced teachers and assistant teachers as well as an inclusion specialist. Students from Rollins’ Bonner Leaders Program, a community service-focused scholarship program, also volunteer alongside the staff.

While there is structure, Davidson notes that the program is also flexible enough to adapt to the children’s needs.

“We recognize that these kids have been in school all day, so our teachers plan fun activities like bracelet making or campus walks, but they’re ready to switch gears if the children just need to unwind,” says Davidson.

Like Rollins, the EduCare program provides a personalized learning environment, with a staff-to-child ratio of 1:6—far lower than the 1:25 ratio required by Florida law. It’s a level of attention Rylii can’t get enough of.

“My daughter is very spunky, outgoing, and talkative, so she loves that attention,” says Greene. “And she’s always asking to see [the teachers]. We call [the EduCare program], after-aftercare. So she always says, ‘I want to go to after-aftercare.’”

More Than Affordable Childcare

For Rylii, each evening at ‘after-aftercare’ brings the promise of a new adventure—and no screens.

Her time is filled with activities she’s already passionate about like puzzles and coloring sheets. She also discovers new things she hasn’t learned at school, like how to write her name in cursive, what star fruit looks and tastes like, and what it’s like to go to college.

“Not only is Rylii going to this aftercare program on a college campus, but she’s also interacting with college-educated teachers and college students,” says Davidson. “Rylii is getting this level of comfort and familiarity with the college environment that her mom, as a first-generation college student, did not have.”

It’s not just the activities or the relationships that have made a difference for Greene. It’s what it means for families like hers—the same ones she was inspired to help during that introductory class at Rollins.

“You don’t want people not to have families and only focus on work all the time,” says Greene. “There has to be a balance, and this program offers that to me.”

• Hume House Child Development & Student Research Center