Alex Parker   





USAID employee Daniel Stoll enjoys a quiet moment with his 4-year-old son, Ethan, at Triangle Tots.

Triangle Tots, run by the for-profit organization Bright Horizons, is a day care facility in Washington's Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center. Dan Stoll, a human resources official at the U.S. Agency for International Development, has two children enrolled in the center, and calls the program's dedication to the well-being of its young charges one of its strongest selling points. The center includes rooms for infants, toddlers and kindergarten-aged children; round-the-clock security provided by the Federal Protective Service; a nursing room for mothers; and classes based on the Creative Curriculum program, which emphasizes concrete learning experiences.

The General Services Administration oversees roughly half of all government-maintained centers, including Triangle Tots. Here's a rundown of the center:

  • $13,208: Average annual cost per child for federal employees
  • $13,884: Average annual cost per child for nonfederal employees
  • 1998: Year the facility opened
  • 114: Number of children currently enrolled
  • 3.4: Number of nonfederal employee children enrolled
  • 95: Number of families enrolled
  • 937: Number of families on the waiting list
  • 2: Number of outdoor playgrounds
  • 6 weeks to 6 years: Ages of children enrolled

COMMENTS

  • Folks, I know it's been nearly 15 years, but were lessons not learned from Oklahoma City? A day care in a federal building is not a good thing, in my humble opinion. Sacrifice convenience for safety? Any time, any day.
  • How about an article that explores why there is such a huge waitlist and what the GSA is doing to offer more child-care opportunities to clearly meet that large demand??
  • What are the costs to enroll each child?