Eula D. Masingale Hall: Highlighting S.U.’s Child Development Lab

Most Southern students have seen the building in between Higgins and the agricultural building: The Eula D. Masingale Hall, also known as Southern University’s Child Development Lab.
The Southern University Child Development Laboratory was established in June 2019 by a team of dynamic individuals who continue to support our laboratory today.
The Lab serves as a learning laboratory for our Child Development students and staff involved in the Child Development Program. The Laboratory also presents itself as a rich resource for the scholarly and creative work of faculty and students. These individuals have an interest in child development, family life, and the teaching/learning processes.
It is also available for those involved in other programs of study on our campus such as social work, education, speech and language pathology, nursing, and psychology studies.
The Southern University Child Development Laboratory is administratively located within the Child Development Program in the College of Agricultural, Family, and Consumer Sciences. Together, they work towards the goal of a more sustainable future, referred to as “Learning Without Limits” by the lab’s Director.
The proud yet humble director of the S.U. Child Development Laboratory since July of 2019, Keisha Yvette Dandridge, is a native of Baton Rouge, LA. She has worked at S.U. since 2018.
The Child Development Lab currently assists children from the ages of 6 weeks to 5 years old. The present enrollment is 48 students in 5 classrooms and consists of children from S.U. System students, faculty and staff, and our local and surrounding communities.
In addition to ensuring education and care, the Laboratory is fortunate to offer families tuition and fee options that allow all socioeconomic backgrounds.
The children are learning using a Creative Curriculum for infants through kindergarten while also using Frog Street for the Pre-K3 and Pre-K4 classes.
“At the SUCDL we want to ensure that each child enrolled in our Laboratory knows that they are an asset to this world and that their potential is limitless. Our goal is to always provide a place of unconditional love, respect, and limitless materials and an opportunity to experience high-quality instruction. We provide hands-on experiences for students through involvement in community and professional activities,» Dandridge explains.
SUCDL’s teachers and staff are well-equipped, knowledgeable, and collectively have more than 40 years of expertise in early childhood education. More than half of SUCDL personnel are alumni of the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences with a specialization in Child Development at Southern University A&M College. To impact the lives of each child and their families, our team wants to ensure that we are completely competent to provide excellence in teaching.
SUCDL’s sustained success is due to a dynamic team of early childhood educators. This team works relentlessly to ensure that we address the cognitive, emotional, and physical development of our students individually and collectively. Dandridge said, “We know that none of this would be possible without the consistent support of our administrative team, who are our most loyal supporters. Dr. Kenyetta Nelson-Smith, executive director, Dr. Renita Marshal, vice chancellor for Academic and Student Support/associate dean director, and last but not least our prestigious chancellor-dean of our Southern University Research and Extension Center, and the College of Agricultural, Family and Consumer Sciences are among our unrelenting supporters.”
The future of our children lies in what we do for them today. Open enrollment for children opens on April 13, 2023, for the next school year. For more information contact them at (225) 771-2081 or [email protected].