These programs are carefully designed to benefit the community as well as the University. Our focus is on providing high-quality care and educational experiences for children, while at the same time helping to train future early childhood educators.
In training educators, sites like Sweatt-Winter Early Care and Education Center, our lab school provide UMF students opportunities to gain valuable practical experience working with children and families and observing teaching and child development in an on-campus setting.
Sweatt-Winter Early Care and Education Center
The Sweatt-Winter Early Care and Education Program has provided full-time care and education to children in Franklin County and the surrounding areas for more than 30 years.
The program is currently located in Ricker Addition on the UMF campus. Sweatt-Winter is nature-inspired, licensed, and works to provide children from our community with a rich, safe, nurturing, developmentally appropriate educational and early learning experience.
In early October 2023, our new state-of-the-art child care center will open on Front Street in Farmington, across the street from UMF’s Robert’s Learning Center (the entrance is just past McDonald’s). In addition to offering our current Preschool Full- and Part-day preschool programs for ages 3-5 and a Before-and-After School program for ages 5-8, our new location will also provide Infant and Toddler care.
The Sweatt-Winter Early Care and Education Center operates 7:00am to 5:15pm, Monday through Friday year-round. We are still accepting children to our programs, but some availabilities may be limited. We are currently enrolling preschool-aged children for our Part-day Preschool program, which runs Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays from 10:00am-12:30pm.
Please contact us to learn the very latest about openings in all of our programs: umf.sweattwinter@maine.edu or call 207-778-7480.
UMF / RSU9 Public Pre-K Collaboration
The UMF / RSU9 Public Pre-K Collaboration operates a short walk from the campus in Farmington’s W.G Mallett School and serves eligible 4-year-olds from the Mallett School Catchment area. The collaboration involves the University of Maine at Farmington, RSU9, and Child Development Services.
For information about enrolling children and UMF student involvement, see The Mallett Pre-K Program and call 207-778-3529.
Youth Recreation Camps, Youth Swim Lessons and More
The UMF Fitness & Recreation Center also offers a number of programs for children throughout the year. These programs are not affiliated with the UMF Early Childhood Education (academic) Department but are offered by the University’s Fitness & Rec Center.