NORWICH – Sound fills the room as children file in, faces red and shiny from the warm summer day.

“Walking feet, please,” says Darlene Alexander, as children greet her excitedly and scurry by.

“You can tell they’ve really been playing out there,” she says, smiling.

Alexander is the director of The Children’s Center, located at One Virginia Lane, in Norwich.

The Children’s Center is managed by Catholic Charities of Chenango County. It currently serves around 36 children, ranging in age from three months to four years, and employs 22 full and part-time staff members.

The center is open from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and runs a structured pre-school program from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Children are provided breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack.

Learning centers, where the children participate in reading, writing, science and art projects, are set up in the four, three and even two-year-old classrooms.

“When I give tours, I have people tell me this is the best kept secret in Norwich,” Alexander said.

Recently, the Children’s Center has seen a drop in enrollment and there are slots in every age group waiting to be filled.

“My phone used to ring incessantly, but lately it not ringing so much,” Alexander said.

The Center has five openings in its infant room, three openings in the room for one year olds, two openings in the room for two year olds, four openings in the room for three year olds and six openings in the room for children who are four. The facility is equipped to take infants as young a six weeks.

Alexander said she thinks the sudden lack of enrollment may have to do with the current state of the economy. With fewer people employed, there is less need for daycare services.

“Normally we have a waiting list,” Alexander said. “But the way the economy hit us ...”