Child Care
There is a large variation in the quality of child care in the area. Here as in the most of the U.S., many family child care providers are unlicensed and unregulated. The State of North Carolina regulates facilities that care for three or more children unrelated to the caregiver. The Online Child Care Resource (see below) provides a summary of the standards for licensing, which are among the most lenient in the country. Some child care centers choose to satisfy higher standards of licensing through certification by the U.S. Department of Social Services. However, many of the nationally accredited facilities have long waiting lists.
Graduate School Child Care Subsidy Program
The Graduate School recently started a program to help PhD students struggling with the costs of child care.
Information on this Program
Application Form
Duke Child Care Scholarship
This program is open to all students at the university. Click here for more information.
Child Care Online Resource: http://www.hr.duke.edu/childcare/
Staff and Family Relations, Office of Human Resources, Duke University: Provides information and resources to all members of the Duke community.
154 Trent Hall, 684-9040.
Child Care Services Association (CCSA): A United Way agency with an excellent resource guide. 2634 Chapel Hill Blvd., Suite 100, 403-6950.
Office of Child Care Licensing, NC Dept. of Administration: 1919 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh, 856-6630
Children's Activities and Books
The Durham Arts Council (560-2787) provides art classes and a theater group. The North Carolina Museum of Life and Science is excellent for children and sponsors classes and summer programs (220-5429). The Durham City Parks and Recreation Department sponsors team sports and provides four public swimming pools (560-4355). Duke has one outdoor and two indoor swimming pools; call 613-7524 for hours.
A great area resource guide for children's activities in the Triangle is the free periodical Carolina Parent, which can be picked up at most libraries and day cares.
There is a wide variety of children's reading material in the juvenile reading section at the East Campus library. The Durham County Library system (560-0100) includes a large main library downtown and seven branch libraries, each with story hours and other special programs for children.
Nursery Schools and Kindergarten--Many options exist for preschool education. Child Care Online Resource (http://www.childcare.duke.edu/) includes most of them. Also, public and private kindergarten classes serve Durham. Call 560-2000 for more information.
Organizations for Children:
Girl Scouts: 544-0662
Boy Scouts: 872-4884
4-H Groups: 560-0525
YMCA: 493-4502
Employment for Spouses or Partners
The following can be considered a starting list for finding employment opportunities within the triangle:
Duke University Employment Office 2024 W. Main St.; 684-5600. One can get a temporary job by stopping by contacting Duke Temporary Service (681-3132).
http://www.hr.duke.edu/
Employment Security Commission of North Carolina
600 Central Ave., Butner. Phone: 560-6880. A public agency that offers free job information and placement services for the local community.
Area Hospitals Human Resources Departments
North Carolina Memorial Hospital: 101 Manning Dr., Chapel Hill; 966-4131
Veteran's Administration Hospital: Erwin Road; across from Duke Hospital; 286-6901
Durham Regional Hospital: 3643 N. Roxboro Rd.; 470-7263
Research Triangle Park (RTP)
This area contains several research offices and various national corporations (IBM, Glaxo Wellcome, etc.). A listing of all the companies in RTP may be obtained at the Career Development Center library (217 Page, West Campus), or for $5 by mail from the Durham Chamber of Commerce, P.O. Box 3829, Durham, NC 27702; (919) 682-2133.
Teaching Opportunities
For information on certification, write or call the State Department of Public Instruction, Division of Teacher Certification, Raleigh (733-4125). Consult Patterson's directory of America School Systems in the Career Development library (217 Page, West Campus) for contact names and numbers.
Temporary Employment
There are several temp. agencies in the area; Duke also has a temporary employment pool. Many people have used Duke Temps as an entry into permanent employment at Duke. Phone 681-3132 for more information.
UNC, Chapel Hill Employment Office: (919) 962-2991.