Darlene Van Kampen heads up the Department of Education’s early childhood program. She has been teaching early childhood courses at Hope since 2019, first on a part-time basis and since 2022 as a full-time member of the faculty. 

Over the two previous decades, her roles as an early childhood educator included directing a Head Start program in Holland and providing training, administration and advocacy as the lead early childhood specialist in the Ottawa Area Intermediate School District, a regional agency that offers programs and services to more than 50,000 students enrolled in 11 West Michigan public school districts or receiving educational services through other schools and community organizations in the region.

Dar teaches all the courses required for an early childhood (pre-K to third grade) minor.  They include Foundations of Early Childhood through Family and Child Centered Interventions in Diverse Cultural Contexts.  Her other courses address planning and leadership of early childhood programs, planning and implementing a nature-based curriculum, and child development from birth to kindergarten. She supervises Hope student teachers preparing for careers as preK-3 educators. 

Outside of the education department, Dar teaches a Freshman Seminar course.  Her course uses a multidisciplinary approach to explore the impact on the brain and body from trauma and toxic stress within our culture.

Outdoor education is one of Dar’s special interests. She was part of the team that designed the department’s nature-based early learning minor, launched a pilot nature-based preschool at the edge of the Hope campus, and established a partnership with the Outdoor Discovery Center, a nature preserve and outdoor education nonprofit five miles south of Hope that now oversees the preschool near Hope and two similar programs.  

Areas of Expertise

• Early childhood education
• Outdoor education
• Working with at-risk children and families
• Professional development for early childhood staff

Education

• M.A. early childhood education, Western Michigan University, 2006
• M.A., family and consumer science, Western Michigan University, 2006
• B.S., psychology, Grand Valley State University, 1997

Outside the College

Dar has been married to her high school sweetheart for 40 years.  Her greatest joy in life is being “Gaga” to their four grandsons. (She’s still hoping for a girl someday!)  In her down time, she enjoys reading mysteries and redecorating their home.

What she loves most about Hope are the relationships that she has made with students.  She feels blessed that she is able to maintain contact with many graduates, whether that be mentoring, providing what students have labeled “Darisms,” or celebrating their life events such as marriages and new babies.