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Bing Nursery School Child Development Research & Training 850 Escondido Road Stanford, CA 94305-7120 (650) 723-4865 |
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by Jeanne W. Lepper, Director History "Bing Nursery School is a national treasure," described Eleanor E. Maccoby, Professor Emerita of Psychology at a recent event in the Psychology Department. The School was constructed as a laboratory school in 1966 with a grant from the National Science Foundation and a gift from Dr. Peter S. Bing, a recent undergraduate at the time, and his mother, Mrs. Anna Bing Arnold. The purpose of the school is to provide a laboratory where undergraduates at Stanford can learn first-hand about child development and where faculty members and graduate students can conduct research in child development. "In order to do this, we need to provide an exemplary nursery school," stated Robert S. Sears, Professor of Psychology, who was Dean of the School of Humanities and Sciences at the time the school was founded. In fact, Bing continues a long Stanford tradition. Since l949, the Department of Psychology had maintained a laboratory nursery school in "temporary quarters" in the Stanford Village housing complex where SRI International is now located. In the early l960's the department added the Escondido Village Nursery School in a cottage across the street from Bing. My first role here was as a Head Teacher when our beautiful Bing building opened in January, l966, just four months behind the construction schedule. The children from these two smaller schools gleefully entered their spacious new school after the winter holiday break. Each child selected one of the newly planted trees to observe and watch it grow and change throughout the year. Thus, the nursery school has enjoyed a long history of service to children, families, students, and faculty researchers. Hundreds of studies have taken place at the school that have made the research and reputation of the school known world-wide. Thousands of children have graduated from the school, and currently there are several children enrolled in the school whose parents are Bing graduates. Two years ago the school began an alumni group that has been enthusiastically received. In l991, on the occasion of the 25th anniversary of the school, more than five hundred people attended a morning research symposium and an afternoon garden party celebrating the school. Program Each year 400 children, ages two to five years, are enrolled in the school. The school operates on the Stanford academic calendar and also offers a 7-week summer session. Children are enrolled in half day, morning or afternoon sessions of 3 1/2 hours, which may be increased somewhat if parents choose extended care options. The school employs a teaching staff of 30 professionals comprised of Head Teachers, Teachers, and Assistant Teachers. In addition, selected Stanford students who have taken the sequence of psychology classes that meet at the school are hired as classroom aides. The administrative staff consists of the Director, Assistant Director, Business Manager, Enrollment Administrator, Receptionist, and Office Assistants. Strong fundraising on the part of parents and friends makes it possible to grant scholarships of $200,000 per year for children who would otherwise be unable to attend. The school has a strong multi-cultural make-up based on the inherent diversity of the University community and on our continuous outreach to the surrounding communities in order to include minority children. Children of Stanford faculty, staff, and students receive a 20% discount on tuition. From the time the school was built, emphasis has been placed on providing children the opportunity to learn social skills and enhance their cognitive abilities by exploring the natural environment and interacting with each other under the guidance of skilled teachers. Research Research studies conducted at Bing over the past decades are now staples in textbooks of psychology, education, and linguistics. Some have influenced public policy for children in America. Research for many doctoral dissertations has been conducted at Bing, under the supervision of Stanford faculty members. Most of the research takes place in the "game rooms," located off the atrium. Some research also takes place in the four classrooms. Some of the most important research programs carried out at Bing include: * Professor Albert Bandura, social learning theory; One indication of the importance of the research conducted at Bing is the fact that 2/5 of the developmental psychologists elected to the National Academy are members of our psychology research faculty, namely, John Flavell and Eleanor Maccoby. Undergraduate Teaching Bing's international reputation for excellence is also based on our contribution to undergraduate education and the quality of the Stanford students who have studied in the school. These students have gone on to become psychologists, teachers, social workers, pediatricians, attorneys, child psychiatrists, etc. Most have become parents. We hope that all Stanford students who work at Bing become child advocates as a result of their experience in an excellent program for young children. Psychology courses have been taught through Bing since the l940's. Usually they are taught by the Director, and some have been taught by the Assistant Director or one of the senior Head Teachers. These include the following classes taught at Bing: * Psychology 146, Observation of Children In addition, students from a number of other courses carry out projects and make extensive use of Bing. These include: * Psychology 110, Research Methods and Experimental Design All of us who have been part of Bing Nursery School through the years have our own sense of what makes the school "a treasure" to us. For me this includes seeing happy children experiment, develop, and thrive in a setting built especially for them, working with a gifted staff who really know what it means to educate and care for young children and who put that knowledge into practice each day, and helping to preserve a model environment that sets a standard for children's facilities around the world. A laboratory school is a dynamic place where children, parents, students, and faculty share in the benefits of the study of child development. We are fortunate to be part of such a magnificent setting!
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