New Child Care Facility Opens On Berkshire Road

By Kaaren Valenta

A new family-owned and operated child care facility, Little Explorers Child Development Center, has opened at 7 Berkshire Road in Sandy Hook with programs that will accommodate infants as young as 6 weeks old to a before/after kindergarten enrichment for children up to age 6.

The center is owned by Heather and Frank Kerekes, who moved to Newtown nearly eight years ago.

“We fell in love with the town but after we moved here and had children, we realized that there was a real shortage of child care centers and many had waiting lists,” Ms Kerekes said.

The couple had a distinct advantage when they began to consider opening a childcare center. Ms Ms Kerekes’ mother, Elaine Ulatowski, who agreed to be the director, has more than 20 years of experience in operating, consulting for, and evaluating daycare centers.

It took three years to find a suitable location in Newtown for a child care center but when Mike Rizzo of Caldwell & Walsh Construction began constructing another in his series of buildings across from Newtown High School, the Kerekes knew they had found a perfect spot.

“It is near Exit 11 and very convenient for many parents,” Ms Kerekes said. “We will be offering a before and after kindergarten enrichment program beginning in September with busing to and from Middle Gate, Sandy Hook, and Hawley schools.”

The 5,000-square-foot school is divided into spacious, colorful rooms. There are five infant/toddler rooms each of which can accommodate up to eight children under the age of 3; plus a preschool room, and a before/after kindergarten room, both of which will accommodate up to 20.

“We are taking a different approach to helping children learn and grow,” Ms Kerekes said. “Children learn not only from adults, but also from other children. Our infants are included in the same room as our toddlers, up to age 3. Each teacher is assigned one infant and a few toddlers. We have a four-to-one child-teacher ratio.”

Ms Ulatowski said the benefits of this mixed age group are many, not the least of which is consistency for the infants, who will grow and develop with the same teacher for the first three years of life.

“The less transitions the better,” she said. “The teacher gets to know the child and the family. The child becomes very comfortable and greater learning takes place.”

Ms Ulatowski is recognized by the state of Connecticut as a validator to accredit daycare facilities for the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

“Accreditation is a higher standard than state-licensing,” she explained. “It’s a validation. You have to be licensed but when you are accredited, it sets a higher standard.

“Our goal is to have accreditation within a year and a half, as soon as we are eligible,” she said.

Little Explorers uses a developmentally appropriate curriculum, and techniques such as “baby signs” — sign language for babies.

“Infants can be frustrated at not being able to communicate,” Ms Ulatowski explained. “Research has shown that using signs increases the child’s ability to speak at a younger age, lessens frustration, and actually increases IQ.”

The preschool will uses the state-approved Creative Curriculum that uses specific benchmarks or criteria that have to be met by kindergarten. “It has a kindergarten readiness evaluation,” Ms Ulatowski said. “We try to take each child as an individual and meet that child’s needs.”

The staff includes head teachers with early childhood degrees plus others who are certified childhood development associates (CDAs). Special programs involving artists, musicians, storytellers, animals, computers, yoga, and other experiences will be held during the year and during the summer session.

“We also offer take-home dinners prepared by a local chef and we are trying to get a dry cleaning drop-off and pickup here,” Ms Kerekes said. “We want to do everything we can to make life simpler for families.”

“We follow the philosophy of Reggio Emilio, and that means that the family is an important part of the daycare experience.”

Little Explorers is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 am to 6:15 pm. There are preschool half-day and full-day programs. Full day care for school vacation weeks and summer is available.

The facility is slowly accepting children on a rolling admission and has seven staff members and 25 infants and toddlers. For more information call 270-8900 or email explorers@charter.net.