The Newton Child Development Center has been providing a critical ministry to Chattanooga, Tennessee for nearly 100 years. Newton currently provides high-quality day care services to children ages six weeks to five years for Chattanooga's West Side Community. Newton gives parents who might otherwise have difficulty obtaining child care a much better opportunity to seek and maintain gainful employment, to continue education and to pursue other areas of need and interest. With Newton providing loving, nurturing child care services in a Christian environment, the parents are freed from worry or undue concern about their children.

Helping the community is the goal of the Newton Child Development Center. The children in the program are provided with opportunities for learning, self-expression, and participation in a variety of creative activities such as a computer center, art, music, health, physical education, dramatic play, science and religious learning. Strong Christian influences are at work in daily activities as well as in special programs and instruction offered by volunteers from local supporting churches and the community. Nutritious meals and a safe, caring environment round out the benefits received by the children.

Funding for Newton Child Development Center comes from a variety of sources. Parents pay for day care according to their income level. In addition, the Tennessee Department of Human Services (TDHS) provides funding for meals for children of parent~ whose income is below the poverty level which in 1995 is nearly all of the children at Newton. The TDHS also provides funding to assist parents who are in job training which can allow them to be removed from the Aid for Dependent Children program. Funding from parents and the TDHS does not cover the costs of operating Newton, however. Newton's Board of Directors, volunteers and staff must continuously seek funding from churches, individuals and other organizations in order to keep this vital ministry going and growing.

Newton began in 1903 as Newton Normal Institute, originally serving as a parochial school for Afro-American children in the basement of the Leonard Street Presbyterian Church. Its work was conducted in cooperation with the United Presbyterian Board of National Missions. The school was the outgrowth of foundation work laid as far back as 1890 when the first phase of Presbyterian church activity among Afro-Americans in Chattanooga began.

In 1912 the school moved to a building of its own at Grove and 13th streets. In 1932 Newton was closed down because by then there were a number of good public schools, and the enterprise became Newton Community Center. The 3-fold purpose of Newton became Child Care, Medical Services, and Community Services.

In 1953 the building was destroyed by fire, and the operation moved back to the basement of the Leonard Street Presbyterian Church. In 1955 Newton Community Center re-opened in a new, one story brick building. Ministering for over 90 years now in the same locality, the Center is still working to meet the many growing needs of the community.

Official sponsorship of Newton is through the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) with funding from the Synod of Living Waters, the Presbytery of East Tennessee and its churches, and several local churches of other denominations. Members from local PCUSA churches and other denominations serve on the Board of Directors and provide volunteer services.

Newton Child Development Center is now an important element and a key training center in the exciting West Side Community Development Project. This far-reaching and highly-publicized program is revitalizing an entire community, and Newton is playing a key role in its progress, particularly in helping the community "invest in children".