The center also has cameras monitoring the classroom that can link up to the Web. Rogers says the center will eventually have a website where parents can log on and see their children at play. As childcare goes, the Wizards center is upscale. It has its own kitchen with a cook who prepares lunches and snacks. Each classroom opens into a playground, and the older children all have access to new Apple computers.
Parents sign their children in and out by using their passwords on a computer in the lobby.
Teachers have a resource room to get ideas or read about current trends in early childhood education. Everything from the toys to the walls looks new and freshly painted. Wizards, a subsidiary of Hasbro Inc. since September 1999, makes games, publishes fantasy literature, and runs a chain of specialty game stores. The company employs more than 2,000 people. According to Renner, whose job includes working with the family center, the parents who fought to get the center have been pretty satisfied with the results.