About

Age of Children Served

6 weeks through 4 years.

Schedule & Hours

University Childcare Center follows the Professional Learning Day and holiday schedule. University Childcare Center is open M-F, 7am – 6pm.

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UCC Administration

Director – Ashley Stough

Ashley Stough is the Director of the University Childcare Center where she is responsible for the day-to-day operations. Her specific duties include ensuring the health, safety, and quality of care provided at the UCC are the number one priority. Additionally, Ashley maintains internal communication with both families, children, and staff as well as ensures curriculum is being implemented appropriately and effectively either in the classroom or through adequate training for the teachers. Ashley has been working for the University Childcare Center since the doors opened in January 2012. She began as a classroom teacher shortly before becoming the Assistant Director for 6 years. Prior to her employment at the UCC she was a PreK teacher and the Director of another local child care center giving her years of teaching and administrative experience. She holds an Associate’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Athens Tech and a Bachelor’s Degree in Early Childhood Education from Piedmont College. Ashley and her husband, Josh, have a six-year-old daughter named Perri and a two-year-old son named Ames. Ashley and Josh are both local Athenians who know our community very well!

Assistant Director – Robyn Obana

Robyn Obana is the Assistant Director of the University Childcare Center where she is responsible for communicating with parents through enrollment, referral services and community outreach
projects. She is the first point of contact in the event that Director, Ashley Stough, is not available. Robyn started working at the UCC in September 2013 as a Lead Teacher in one of our 2-year-old classrooms. Shortly thereafter, Robyn became our Parent Resource Coordinator before taking on the Assistant Director role. Additionally, Robyn has worked as an assistant teacher in a Special Education Preschool class on the U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka base in Japan, and as a lead teacher at the Child Development Center on Hickam Air Force Base in Honolulu, Hawaii. Robyn holds an Associate Degree in Early Childhood Education from Athens Tech and a Bachelor’s Degree in Child Development from Walden University. Robyn and her husband, Charlie, have two children Carlymira (age 21) and Max (age 17).

Team Leader – April Myers

April Myers is the Team Leader of the University Childcare Center where she is responsible for the day-to-day scheduling and staff operations. Her specific duties include displaying superior customer service to families, supervision of all teachers and staff, providing a prime example of model behavior for the staff to follow, and ensuring all staff files are up to date and organized. Additionally, April conducts orientations for new teachers, as well as ensuring all teachers are up to date on annual trainings. April has her TCC in Early Childhood Care and Education from Athens Tech. She has been a full time teacher at UCC since May 2013 and has experience working with all age groups within our school. April and her fiancé have two children, Gabe (age 13) and Kate (age 7).

 

President – Wes Zwirn

Wes ZwirnWes Zwirn is the President of the University Childcare Center where he is responsible for the overall success and operations of the center while also collaborating with the University of Georgia. Wes worked with the UGA architects office as well as many other UGA staff to assist in the design and implementation of UCC.  Wes reports to the Vice President of Human Resources at UGA and also sits on the UGA/UCC advisory board committee. This committee meets quarterly to ensure UCC is meeting the goals and objectives desired by UGA’s faculty, staff and students.

Wes holds a master’s degree from the University of Georgia in Agricultural Economics. Wes and his wife, Jennifer, have owned and operated another childcare center in Athens since 2009.  They started their own childcare center with the hopes of offering their own 4 children a unique and high quality childcare experience.  In many ways, that center’s success proved to be the model for UCC’s operations. You can contact Wes via email with any questions or concerns: weszwirn@uga.edu.

Professional Learning Days

UCC offers up to 10 Professional Learning Days per year for its staff in which we will be closed to families. Not only is offering professional development a requirement for Bright from the Start licensing rules, it is also a way of strengthening our Educators knowledge base, thus ensuring quality care and education for your children. During the designated days, our staff will participate in a variety of educational training and workshops. Topics will range from general health and safety to curriculum development and assessment. You will be provided a summary of our professional development sessions upon completion of training. The current Professional Learning Day and Holiday schedule:

 2025:

  • August 4th (Monday) First day of new school year
  • September 1st (Monday) Labor Day
  • September 26th (Friday) PL Day CPR/First Aid Training
  • October 31st (Friday) PL Day
  • November 26th (Wednesday) 1⁄2 Day PL Day- children picked up by noon
  • November 27th & 28th (Thursday & Friday) Thanksgiving Holiday
  • December 24th-26th (Wed.-Fri.), December 31st -January 2nd (Wed.-Fri.) Christmas Holiday

2026:

  • January 1st – 2nd (Thursday-Friday) New Year Holiday
  • January 19th (Monday) Martin Luther King Jr. Day
  • February 16th (Monday) PL Day
  • March 13th (Friday) PL Day
  • April 10th (Friday) PL Day
  • May 22nd (Friday) PL Day
  • May 25th (Monday) Memorial Day
  • June 18th (Thursday) PL Day -Parent/Teacher Conferences
  • June 19th (Friday) Juneteenth Holiday
  • July 3rd (Friday) Independence Holiday
  • July 29th-31st (Wednesday-Friday) PL days to prep for new school year/Open House
  • August 3rd (Monday) First day of new school year
  • September 7th (Monday) Labor Day
  • September 25th (Friday) PL Day CPR/First Aid Training
  • October 30th (Friday) PL Day
  • November 25th (Wednesday) 1⁄2 day PL Day – children picked up by noon
  • November 26th & 27th (Thursday & Friday) Thanksgiving Holiday
  • December 23rd-25th (Wed.-Fri.), December 30th-January 1st (Wed.-Fri.) Christmas Holiday

Mission & Values

University Childcare Center’s goal is to offer first-class childcare and to provide a warm, engaging learning environment to the children of UGA faculty, staff and students as well as to families of the Athens community. Located in a newly renovated 12,000 square foot facility on UGA’s Health Sciences Campus, with a total of over 15,000 square feet of outdoor play area spanning four age appropriate playgrounds, University Childcare Center will bring happiness to many Athens children and families. University Childcare Center has smaller classrooms and very low teacher to child ratios giving our children the opportunity to receive great amounts of individual attention from our highly trained teachers. A University of Georgia childcare center has the great luxury of being associated with many educated, passionate individuals who have great experience and training in early childhood education. Our children learn from and are cared for by these individuals, which create a positive environment for our children’s critical first 5 years. These early years are the foundation for our children’s future. We hope you allow us the opportunity to help raise your children at University Childcare Center.

Curriculum

University Childcare Center strives to meet individual academic and developmental milestones by using the Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards (GELDS). Each week our classroom teachers create their lesson plans and turn them in for review and approval from the Administration. Lesson plans incorporate each of the following developmental areas: Social/Emotional, Cognitive, Language and Physical Development. To learn more about The Georgia Early Learning and Development Standards, visit their website at: www.GELDS.decal.ga.gov

UCC Standards

Our childcare program is licensed by the Georgia Department of Early Care and Learning and operates based on the most stringent standards of national accrediting childcare associations with regard to child-to-teacher ratios, classroom sizes, and teacher training, similar to the University of Georgia’s Child Development Lab at the McPhaul Center.

Ratios and sizes

Group Teacher to Child Ratio Maximum Number of Children Per Room
Infants 1:4 8
Young Toddlers 1:4 12
Older Toddlers 1:6 12
3 & 4 year old 1:7 14

Facility


Floor Plan

Frequently Asked Questions

Have questions about The University of Georgia University Childcare Center? Visit our Frequently Asked Questions!