This week, during the Week of the Young Child, the Greene County Early Learning Center invites all area residents to help fulfill its classrooms’ wish lists. The ELC also has good news and bad news. The good news is that it’s full! The bad news is…. it’s full.
First the wish lists! On those lists are bibs and cloth diapers for burp clothes for the Turtle Room, ages 0-2; a laundry basket and extra pants in sizes 2T-4T for the Frog Room (ages 2-4); extra pants in sizes 4-7 for the Caterpillar Room (ages 3-5); yarn for the school-age children in the Butterfly Room; and scholarships for the Pied Pipers preschool.
Everyone who has raised a child knows the first reason staff would wish for extra pants, but assistant director Sarah Erickson reminds that along with the obvious, there are the times someone spills milk at breakfast and smells like sour milk by naptime, or the times eager children just can’t wait for dew to be wiped off and do the job their first trip down.
And the good news/bad news. The Early Learning Center is serving 66 families with 103 children. It’s full. “This is a great thing for us because it’s easier to pay our bills,” Erickson said.
The bad news is that the predicted job growth in the community will hopefully bring families, and the Early Learning Center won’t be able to serve them. That’s one of the reasons the ELC board asked the Greene County school board to consider offering a 3-year-old preschool. The classroom space is needed for fulltime childcare.
“This is a nice problem to have,” executive director Cherie Cerveny said, “and the board and staff is exploring options to be sure we can do our very best for our youngest residents. It’s everyone’s job to ensure we have a quality environment for their earliest years and earliest learning.”
