New Early Learning Center Open for Families, Plans to Expand

opened its doors Sept. 6 and has plans to expand and hire this school year.

to gain approval for the childcare center. While business is slow starting out, the space is ready for newcomers with free registration.

Open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday, Kids Green Valley Learning Center is prepped for children ages six months to 12 years to learn and play while away from parents. Walking in, a colorful and clean lobby greets children and parents. With nine classrooms bursting with toys, books, beanbag chairs and kid-sized tables, the activities seem endless.

The curriculum, HighScope, revolves around teaching children through hands-on experiences per age level, focusing on child-adult interaction from learning shapes to reading skills.

Teacher and assistant director Heather Pavlic's goal for the younger kids is "to prepare them for kindergarten--they call it big school--in aspects as far as colors, numbers and shapes."

With 16 years of teaching experience, she looks forward to a fresh start at Kids Green Valley. The children and staff seem to be the owner's focus, not money, said Pavlic.

Marinescu owns three other childcare centers and got into the business 19 years ago for a quite simple reason.

"I love kids," she said.

Playground equipment, a small herb garden, a basketball court and other play gear surround the building and are aimed to get the kids outside on good weather days. Each classroom is set up based on the age level of learning, so some rooms have cribs, while others have art supplies.

"You almost want to be a mom away from home," said Pavlic about keeping kids busy and learning.

A small kitchen area will supply a healthy breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack to stave off hunger during the children's stay. Director Dottie Skowronski said it will most likely be catered in, with exception to a few easy-to-make foods.

"Our main goal is to provide a safe and loving environment where the parents can drop their children off and feel comfortable that somebody else is watching their children during the day," Skowronski said.

She hopes to get word out that Kids Green Valley is accepting newcomers and will be hiring based on registration size.

"We're here," she said. "And we're ready for them."