CAMPUS CHILDREN'S CENTER AIMS TO HELP TEEN MOMS.

Byline: Daniel Taub Daily News Staff Writer

In an effort to make it easier for teen-age mothers to stay in school, Los Angeles Unified School District officials dedicated a new child-care center Friday at Monroe High School.

Eleventh-grader Nancy Barrios said her 13-month-old son, Wilmar, will start the infant program next week, allowing her to stay close to him while she attends class.

"I'll drop him off in the morning and then pick him up after school," she said, noting that until now she has had to pay a friend $60 a week to take care of Wilmar while she was in school.

Barrios will get free care for her child at the new center, since she is a student. The service is available to nonstudents, too - for a fee based upon ability to pay.

Center Principal Gloria Smith said all 20 infants and "as many as we can get" of toddlers and preschoolers, will be children of Monroe High School students.

"It was a very emotional experience for me the first time a teen mother came to me to enroll her child," said Smith, who also serves as principal of the nearby Gledhill Children's Center.

The Monroe center - which will double as a supervised lab for Monroe students enrolled in child psychology and parenting classes - also aims to help community parents in search of a low-cost preschool by admitting neighborhood children on a space-available basis.

The center is named after Monroe Principal Joan Elam, who first had the idea for a center, and will offer child care and education to about 60 children from six weeks to 5 years old.

Although Elam received a standing ovation from the audience of 150 at Friday's dedication, she credited members of the community for building the center. That included a California State University, Northridge, environmental design class that planned the building, the Van Nuys Home Depot store that donated materials and labor, and school district officials who supported her.

"To have wonderful dreams like this is great, but you've got to have the people behind you to do it," said Elam, who has been at Monroe for eight years.

The center is the 100th of its kind in the district.

Ruben Zacarias, deputy superintendent of the LAUSD, said he would like to have more children's centers at high schools.

"We're currently seeking funding from the state and other sources" for additional centers, Zacarias said. "Having them on high school campuses has the additional advantage that we have teens who can avail themselves of the services."

The new center at Monroe gives the district 22 children's centers in the Valley, most of which are on elementary school campuses.

There is a similar children's center at San Fernando High School that is operated by a private, nonprofit organization.

Waunette Cullors, a mother of three from Van Nuys, said she will pay only about $17 a week for care of her 4-year-old daughter, Paisley, instead of the $100 a week she'd have to pay otherwise.

"Seeing that I work, and I have three, it's a big savings," Cullors said. "She's in a child-care atmosphere where she can get ready for kindergarten next year."

Nine children already were attending class at the new center Friday, and more children will begin the program next week.

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Photo (1) Preschooler Jennifer Romo, center, attends Friday's dedication of the Monroe High children's center. (2) Monroe Principal Joan Elam, center, prepares for the ribbon cutting. (3) The Joan Elam Children's Center, which officially opened Friday, was named after the school principal. Myung J. Chun/Daily News