YMCA helps with child care in early learning center
Parents get a daily text or email photo of their son or daughter spending the day at the Butler YMCA’s Early Learning Childhood Center.
“Me, as a momma, I think there’s nothing better than getting a picture of my baby being happy,” said Rachel Campbell, clinical director of youth services. “Parents really love that communication.”
Campbell and Kelly Tennent, site director at the center located inside the Butler YMCA, notes that iPads in every classroom — in part, to text parents utilizing a special application — are only one sign of how the changing society is reflected in current care.
“We have more technology,” said Tennent of her 25 years experience in the field. “But the kids also are accustomed to more technology. They are used to being ‘plugged in.’ It’s a challenge for our teachers to compete with that activity.
“When they’re here we promote more social activities because we know that for a lot of these children, their main interaction with other kids is here.”
Parents, they say, have full plates today, often with both parents working.
“The need for child care is greater than ever,” Campbell said, noting there’s also proportionally more foster families and single moms or single dads in need to daytime help.
“And more grandparents are dropping off, picking up or raising the children,” Tennent said.
The location hosts about 75 infants, toddlers and preschoolers. There’s a waiting list to get in the program, and, like many area child care facilities, “we are in a hiring situation,” Campbell said. “People are waiting to come to us, so we are working to find people who are the right fit.”
Each classroom at the YMCA is staffed by a lead instructor and an assistant.
Tennent said most parents would be pleasantly surprised to know the wide range of experience the supervisors bring to the classroom, from their own parenting to college masters degrees. In all, the YMCA’s child-care services employ about 50 full and part-time people.
In addition to the main site, the Butler Family YMCA staff also provides day care, summer camps and/or after- school programming at multiple locations throughout the county.
“We have pieces all over the area. And that’s nice because we can also serve those communities,” Campbell said.
Campbell notes the YMCA’s child care programs have grown to become a “staple in this community because of consistency, longevity and word-of-mouth. The Christian principles also are an enticing factor.”
The swimming pool and gym at the city location, utilized only by the older children, also are a draw, as is completive pricing.
Campbell said “more than 40 percent of our families are enrolled and receive some state assistance for the child-care costs. Based on their income, they get a co-pay.”
