Marisa Lozano’s dream used to begin when her son fell asleep.
It was 2024, and Lozano’s son, Elias, needed nearly all of her attention. When she attended long in-person classes, her fiancé, David, sometimes missed an entire workday to care for Elias in her stead. When Lozano worked part time, the couple alternated parental duties around their schedules while stretching their paychecks.
The dream is to finish her studies at Tarrant County College and build a career in medical imaging, possibly in radiologic technology. It is also to make college feel possible to Elias. But working toward it meant using whatever hours remained after he went to bed to do her homework.
“I really don’t know how I passed my classes,” Lozano said, reflecting on the past two years. “I was staying up late and just trying to fit everything in.”
These days, 27-year-old Lozano and 4-year-old Elias go to school together. She studies at TCC South, and he learns a few feet away at the campus’s Child Care Studio. Together with another studio at Northwest Campus, the centers are part of a partnership among TCC, Child Care Associates and Tarrant County intended to keep parents enrolled while their children begin their own education.
“He’s just right here on campus with me,” Lozano said. “I don’t really have to worry about where he’s at.”
Miniature American flags lined the South studio’s entryway as administrators, elected officials and other partners gathered for a ribbon cutting. The ceremony came exactly 25 years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Tarrant County Judge Tim O’Hare said the American dream was under attack that day. The studio, he said, could help people who might otherwise lack the opportunity to attend college a chance to better themselves and truly live the American dream.
TCC Chancellor Elva LeBlanc described the early learning centers as a simultaneous investment in parents and children.
“When a parent pursues an education, the impact extends far beyond that individual,” LeBlanc said. “Education can change and does change the trajectory of a family, and ultimately shapes a generation.”
Lozano’s dream carries a family history.
Her father grew up in Mexico and left school after eighth grade to work on his father’s farm before coming to the United States at 18, she said. Her mother did not go to school. Of six children, Lozano is the only one who finished high school and enrolled in college.
By finishing, she hopes to make college feel reachable not just for Elias but also her two younger siblings and her fiancé’s younger sister, who returned to high school after dropping out and now wants to attend college.
“I want better for him,” Lozano said of Elias. “I just want a better life for him.”
Nearly 23% of public two-year college students nationwide have dependent children, according to the Community College Research Center at Teachers College, Columbia University. Among community college student parents, 43% work at least 30 hours a week.
Lozano has seen how quickly a childcare problem at home can follow a parent into the classroom. Her classmates missed class because no one could watch their children. In one course, she said students could not make up for a missed exam.
Her own list of people to call was short. Lozano’s father-in-law works in the oil field and is out of town for about half of each month. Her sister-in-law was the only other relative nearby who could sometimes help.
Private care was not a workable alternative. Even part-time care was expensive and required her to provide meals and snacks. Her part-time paycheck would not have covered half the cost, she said.
Without the childcare center, Lozano didn’t think she could continue college.
“We really don’t have a support system,” she said.
The center didn’t just change where Elias spent his day — it changed what Lozano could do with hers.
She is taking anatomy and physiology for the second time. Previously, she could not stay for extra lab help because she had to rush home to Elias.
Now she can remain on campus.
The South and Northwest studios serve children from 6 weeks to 5 years old. Each has eight classrooms, an indoor play area and a licensed capacity of 211 children. TCC students receive priority in the application process although a place is not guaranteed. Employees and community families may enroll if space remains.
Parents are responsible for tuition, but families may qualify for programs, such as Head Start and Early Head Start, workforce assistance or other subsidies.
Tarrant County committed $8.05 million in federal pandemic relief money for the facilities. TCC reported contributing another $5.26 million. Child Care Associates owns and operates the buildings, hires the staff and covers operating expenses. Ownership will transfer to TCC after 30 years.
Inside the roughly 14,000-square-foot early learning center, cream walls and muted purple, green and blue accents fill the background. The brightest colors come from the toys and books that children choose and touch. Child-sized play tables become dining tables, where children pass food and pour their own drinks.
Kara Waddell, president and CEO of Child Care Associates, said the design grew from conversations with families and teachers: natural light, room to breathe and places for parents to sit or set down a car seat.
Child Care Associates wants the learning to continue after children leave the center, Waddell said. The organization plans to help families understand the choices that follow preschool, from pre-K to elementary school, so each educational opportunity leads into another.
“It needs to be a relay race,” she said.
Elias started at the studio Aug. 17. Through a mobile app, she receives messages and photographs from his day. Staff members contacted Lozano immediately, including one time when he became sick and later fell outside.
“He’s in good hands here,” Lozano said. “I’m not worried about leaving him for the day.”
Shortly before noon Sept. 11, the speeches had ended. Sunlight stretched across the studio playground. Elias pedaled in circles on a tricycle, with David a few steps behind.
Lozano eyed her family from the bench.
In that moment, the life she had been reaching toward was no longer somewhere ahead of her.
She was living it.
Dang Le is the higher education reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at dang.le@fortworthreport.org.
The Fort Worth Report partners with Open Campus on higher education coverage.
The Report’s higher education coverage is supported in part by major higher education institutions in Tarrant County, including Tarleton State University, Tarrant County College, Texas A&M-Fort Worth Christian University, Texas Wesleyan University, the University of Texas at Arlington and UNT Health Fort Worth.
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