An open house is planned for Sunday, April 8 from 2-4 p.m. to celebrate the opening of the PRESBY Childcare Center at 1323 Fourth St. in Perry in the lower level of the First Presbyterian Church.
The center has received its permit to open from the Iowa Department of Human Services and will celebrate its first milestone with refreshments and tours of the facility.
The new daycare is scheduled to begin operations the following week.
“We finally got put together enough to be granted permission to open on April 16,” said Julie Burkhart, director of the PRESBY Childcare Center. The DHS inspector will return after 120 days after the opening to grant the full license, and then yearly inspections will follow.
The daycare is provisionally licensed for 27 little clients, including eight children ages 6 weeks to 2 years and 19 more kids ages 2 to 5 years.
“This space in the church’s lower level wasn’t being utilized,” Burkhart said, “so last fall the church looked into a way they could use it to help the community. They determined there was need for a center in Perry, especially those for infants to 4-year-olds. I think with Head Start that the preschool year is pretty well taken care of, and we’re going to have a program as it fills up, but those younger kids there’s really a need for it.”
Three classrooms and a large open-plan area make up the teaching space. Brand new bathrooms, a new food-preparation space, fresh paint throughout and lots of new toys make the center shine.
Burkhart said she has hired the on-site director and is still looking to hire two teachers for the April 16 opening. She plans eventually to work up to a total seven staffers.
Burkhart has more than 30 years of teaching experience to draw on. She earned an associate degree in child development from DMACC in mid-1980s and has taught all age groups, from infants through preschool and a little bit with school-age kids.
“I’ve been a director and assistant director for a while,” she said, “but kind of stepped back from that and started teaching again when we had our daughter because that takes a lot of time, but now she’s a junior in high school.”
The name of the PRESBY Childcare Center is partly a pun on the name of the First Presbyterian Church, which hosts the daycare center, but it is also an acronym standing for:
- Positive
- Respectful
- Enriching
- Sociable
- Blessed
- Youth
The motto of the PRESBY Daycare Center is “building a faith-based experience for youth.”
The center’s hours will be 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. Lunches will be catered by Hy-Vee, and snacks will be provided by the school.
Tuition rates are $150 a week for children ages 6 weeks to 2 years and $120 a week for children ages 2 to 5 years.
For more information or to enroll your child, contact Burkhart at 515-465-5918 or at Presbychildcare@gmail.com.
