On Thursday morning, USC President Beong-Soo Kim welcomed the youngest-ever USC students to the Trojan Family. They enjoy stacking cups, listening to nursery rhymes and taking naps.

The infants are part of the inaugural cohort at USC’s first infant child care center. The new Early Head Start and Head Start Center, at the Tom Bradley Global Awareness Magnet in Leimert Park, will provide infant, toddler and preschool care in a neighborhood where access to high-quality, no-cost early education is limited. The center — named the USC Tom Bradley Child Development Center — is federally funded and is expected to open in May. It will be the ninth location operated by USC’s School for Early Childhood Education (SECE).

Kim and other USC leaders gathered at the new site with education leaders, community partners, and parents with toddlers and infants in tow to celebrate the opening, marking an important advancement in providing free early childhood education services to families in South Los Angeles.

“The opening of this new Early Head Start and Head Start Center this coming May reflects something fundamental to our mission: expanding access to opportunity,” Kim said at the event. “USC is so proud to be part of this community and its continued growth and success. Together, we are creating an environment where children can learn, grow and thrive, and where families are supported every step of the way.”

Children enrolled at the USC Tom Bradley Center will have access not only to early education, but also to a full range of services, including health and developmental support, nutritious meals and individualized care plans. The center has partnered with the Keck School of Medicine of USC to support children with specialized health care needs, offering consultations, parent education workshops and on-site nursing support. Families will have access to a digital platform that enables real-time communication with teachers, including updates, photos and daily reports, strengthening transparency and family engagement.

“At USC, we understand the value of supporting the whole child and the whole family,” said Samuel Garrison, USC senior vice president of university relations, in opening remarks at the event.

Kim and Garrison were joined by April Smith, executive director of SECE, and Tosha Bunn-Bell, principal of the Tom Bradley Global Awareness Magnet, to cut the ceremonial cardinal ribbon marking the opening.

Serving an important community need

The center’s location was selected, in part, based on SECE’s 2024-25 Community Needs Assessment, which identified a significant gap in access to early learning programs for infants and young children in the Leimert Park area.

Early childhood education plays a critical role in shaping lifelong outcomes. USC’s early learning programs are designed to support children during their most formative years, helping them build a strong foundation for academic, social and emotional success.

The programs also support parents’ development by meeting their child care needs at no cost. “Access to high-quality child care is essential for economic mobility, for enabling parents to build careers and even pursue their own education,” Kim said. He shared that his late mother, a third-grade teacher in the Los Angeles Unified School District, balanced her teaching career with raising Kim and his brother mostly by herself.

Parents struggling to find child care “can’t go to work, or they can’t go back to school, or they can’t do the things they need to do because they have no help, no village,” said Jasmine Horton, a parent and SECE policy council member, who spoke at the event. Horton’s two daughters, ages 3 and 4, are enrolled at SECE’s Vermont Avenue Child Development Center.

After her second child was born, Horton, a single mother, stopped working and dropped out of school. Since her daughters joined SECE two years ago, Horton has restarted her cleaning business and enrolled at Los Angeles Trade-Technical College to study early childhood education. “SECE has allowed me to achieve so much in my life,” Horton said in an interview after the ribbon cutting. “Everyone here has helped me get through so many obstacles. They are my ‘village.’”

Horton’s enthusiasm about SECE encouraged three of her friends to enroll their infants at SECE’s new USC Tom Bradley Center.

“For the parents in this community, I know the experience will be everything and more for them, like it has been for me,” said Horton, who has family roots in Leimert Park and grew up nearby.

Community impact is a key piece of USC’s academic mission. The new center is only the latest of many outreach programs the university has undertaken in the area, including the March opening of the USC Pharmacy and Wellness Center in South L.A.

“This center represents USC’s commitment to South Los Angeles, to our campus neighborhoods, and working with partners to expand opportunities, strengthen community and ensure that every child has the foundation they need to succeed,” Garrison said.

A leader in early education

Founded in 1970 as a teaching school for early childhood professionals, USC SECE has served more than 20,000 children and families and currently supports more than 350 families in neighborhoods surrounding the university’s campus. The program is ranked No. 3 nationally and No. 1 in the western region among federally funded early childhood education programs.

“For over 50 years, the USC School for Early Childhood Education has been a national leader, setting the standard for comprehensive, high-quality early learning,” Kim said. “What makes SECE truly special is its holistic approach” — one that integrates education, health services and family engagement.

In addition to direct services, SECE serves as a training ground for future early childhood educators, combining classroom instruction with hands-on experience across diverse community settings, an approach that strengthens the broader early education workforce.

Given SECE’s wide-ranging benefits for local children, families and educators, Kim said, “The work taking place at SECE is quite literally shaping our future.”