Nature and Purpose
The Parents' Center is a specialized program providing day care to very young children, from six weeks to five years old, who come from families in which child abuse or neglect is an identified problem. The Center is located in a single-family home in Brighton, and serves 12 children. The Center is accessible by public transportation. The Center's primary goal is to serve the entire family and preserve the integrity of these troubled families.

Tasks 
The student will experience the program as a whole. Tasks will range from participation in the classroom requiring direct experience with children ranging in age from 6 weeks to 5 years to assisting in the center's routines including maintaining the environment. In fulfilling these objectives, the student will work with one of the two lead teachers, assisting the teacher in activities or providing one-one-one attention to a child. The student will be expected to provide supervision of play while building relationships with the children in his/her classroom. Some knowledge of child development and psychology will be helpful.

Supervision
Students must be able to be at the Center two mornings a week for a minimum of 10 hours a week. Shifts are negotiable and are from approximately 9:00am - 2:00pm. Each student will be supervised on a weekly basis by the classroom teacher with whom the student is working. At the beginning of each semester, all students are given a group orientation to the Center and to the field of the study of child abuse and neglect. 

Transportation time to the Center is about fifteen minutes each way.

Supervisors
Mary Watson Avery, Assistant Director
Emily Studebaker, Teacher
Rashida Latson, Teacher

Address
Parents' Center at Saltonstall House 
3 Egremont Rd.
Brighton, MA 02135 
Tel.: (617) 232-2994

Council Member:   Jessica Franco