Nearly 100 parents, children, and members of the community visited the Greene County Early Learning Center Tuesday evening to mark the childcare center’s 10th anniversary.
All the classrooms were open for tours, and Stacie Stevenson of Iowa Public Television had table activities for children.
Adults who attended were provided with information that according to Iowa Child Care Resource and Referral, there are 575 children in Greene County under the age of 6, and that 81 percent of them live in dual income households, indicating a likely need for childcare. Adding school age children 12 and younger, there are 1,351 children who would potentially need childcare. However, there are fewer than 300 spaces in licensed centers and registered childcare home.
The Greene County Early Learning Center is looking at ways to meet that need including opening a third location (the GCELC’s second location is in the basement at Greene County Middle School), renovating the current locations, building a new center, or maintaining the status quo. “The GCELC board of directors is working hard to evaluate the demand for a care center in our community, to determine the financial resources necessary to complete any project, and to budget for additional payroll and general expenditures.”
