OU-Pontiac Initiative to Launch Infant-Toddler Childcare and Resource Hub

Oakland University’s Department of Human Development and Child Studies (HDCS) has partnered with the Pontiac School District and the OU-Pontiac Initiative Early Childhood Education (OUPIECE) group to co-design Baby PEACE, a new infant-toddler childcare and resource hub at Pontiac High School. 

Conceived as a collaborative research project under the title “Co-Creating a Culturally Sustaining Infant-Toddler Childcare and Resource Hub in a Public High School Through Critical Participatory Action Research,” Baby PEACE will now serve various members of the Pontiac community — including students, teen parents, district staff members and Pontiac residents — to provide access to a community-designed, culturally-sustaining childcare program for infants through the age of 3. 

“We are excited to be working with Oakland University and leaders from our community to bring this vision to life,” says Kimberly Leverette, Ed.D., interim superintendent for the Pontiac School District and project co-lead. “The concept of having an early childhood center onsite within the walls of our high school is one that has been on our bucket list for a long time.” 

Baby PEACE has been more than three years in the making, according to HDCS associate professor and project co-lead Tomoko Wakabayashi, Ed.D. The project has been made possible through a $400,000 grant from the Spencer Foundation, a nonprofit established to support education research. Grant funding from the Spencer Foundation is highly competitive, as only about 2% of proposals are awarded each year. 

Students in the CTE program are learning skills that they will use in the Baby PEACE Program, which will serve as a high-quality practicum site. (Photo Credit: James Silvestri)

“The idea for Baby PEACE … came about after an encounter with a teen mother who joined a weekly youth resilience support group facilitated by OUPIECE,” says Dr. Wakabayashi. “It took us three years of trying, reviewing and revising the plan with input from the community before we were finally awarded the Spencer Foundation’s Research Practice Partnership Award in September 2024.”

Pontiac has historically faced higher-than-average teen pregnancy rates compared to state and national figures and, at one point, ranked fifth in Michigan for cities with the highest teen birth rates — a long-standing challenge that has impacted educational attainment for many young parents in the community. On average, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates nearly 50% of teenagers who give birth will drop out of high school, an issue that the Baby PEACE project aims to directly address

According to Reverend Derrick McDonald, pastor of Prospect Missionary Baptist Church in Pontiac, community leaders are hopeful that initiatives such as Baby PEACE will alleviate stress from young parents and mitigate barriers to completing their high school education. 

“When I think about the opportunity the Baby PEACE project will provide teen mothers, I am excited and looking forward to its completion,” he says. “Having recently spoken with a woman who was not able to go to school because she was a teen mother, it gives me great hope that this doesn’t have to be repeated.”

In addition to providing childcare for members of the Pontiac community, Baby PEACE aims to prioritize Pontiac High School’s commitment to providing Career Pathway opportunities to students through its Career Technical Education (CTE) program. Over 17,000 students participate in CTE programs in Oakland County alone, allowing them to engage in hands-on coursework that prepares them for a wide range of employment and educational opportunities beyond high school.  

As a goal of the project, Baby PEACE promises to provide students at both Pontiac High School and OU with access to a high-quality student practicum site, offering diverse enrichment and networking opportunities for district staff, families and community members.

“It allows our Career Pathway Early Childhood Education students hands-on career experience and expands our educational reach as a district, engaging students truly from cradle to career,” Dr. Leverette says.

To ensure Baby PEACE effectively serves the Pontiac community, OUPIECE leaders enlisted input from community partners throughout the development process. The project’s emphasis on community-based research “exemplifies the importance of research that is grounded in and guided by the experiences of Pontiac Community members,” according to Julie Ricks-Doneen, Ph.D., associate professor in the HDCS Department and one of many OU faculty members involved in the Baby PEACE initiative. 

Furthermore, OUPIECE members are hopeful that Baby PEACE will serve as an opportunity for stakeholders to share resources. According to Wakabayashi, Baby PEACE will be a “safe, stable and nurturing space for Pontiac’s youngest learners,” while also fostering an environment for parents and caregivers to gather for information. 

“Baby PEACE is the opportunity to bring the Pontiac community and the Pontiac School District together to pour into a project that is beneficial to everyone and allow students the chance to showcase a new interest in our earliest learners,” says Canequia Moulder, executive director of the Pontiac Promise Zone and current Ph.D. student in OU’s early childhood education program. 

Implementation of the Baby PEACE project is already underway, with a targeted launch date of fall 2025. 

“The Baby PEACE Project has been a labor of love that will make such a difference in the lives of the students and staff at the Pontiac School District,” says Shawna Boomgaard, Ed.D., social work/mental health faculty member at Oakland Community College and member of the OUPIECE leadership team. “This will continue to build resilience in the community and help improve so many lives. I’m so excited for this dream to finally come to fruition!”

For more information on OUPIECE, visit oakland.edu/community/pontiac-initiative.