Promise fulfilled

A new daycare and preschool will be opening in Saratoga, offering much needed childcare options to residents.

The center, Tomorrow’s Promise, will open at 1012 W. Bridge Avenue in Saratoga Oct. 1, according to the campus director, Priscilla Schmidt. The center will offer daycare options as well as preschool education. The center will offer immersion courses in English, Spanish and American Sign Language.

The lack of childcare options has been an issue in the town for some time, with the issue having been discussed at length in town council meetings. The issue became personal for Schmidt when she discovered she was pregnant, she said.

“I was looking for quality childcare with an academic component while I was finishing my degree,” Schmidt said. “It was when I was looking that I discovered that it (childcare) was a need in the community.”

Elizabeth Ridgeway, the owner of Tomorrow’s Promise in Rawlins, also saw the need for childcare services in Saratoga and expressed an interest in opening a campus in town, Schmidt said. Once Schmidt earned her degree in elementary education and a certificate in early childhood education, she was offered the opportunity to be the director of the Saratoga campus and accepted.

“It was kind of a double win for me, being able to be a mom to my son and utilize my educational background to provide a quality service to other families in the town,” Schmidt said.

The center will be open to children between the ages of 8 weeks and 5 years, Schmidt said. The center will offer both daycare services as well as academic preschool.

The educational model of the center is similar to the Montessori model, Schmidt said. Under the Montessori system, there is a balance between teacher-centered activity and child-centered learning. According to the American Montessori Society, the key components of the Montessori system include mixed-age classrooms, the freedom for students to choose learning activities from different stations and hands-on learning.

The curriculum is intended to help children be better prepared to begin school by building language skills, fine motor skills as well as promoting social and emotional development, Schmidt said.

Besides Schmidt, the center also has two other employees who are certified in child first aid and CPR, as well as training in early childhood development. All employees go through a background check, Schmidt said.

The cost for services depends on the individual child’s needs and the parents’ desires, Schmidt said, adding that the cost would never exceed $34.50 per day. Because the facility is regulated and licensed by the state, parents who cannot afford the fees can apply for subsidies from the Wyoming Department of Family Services.

The center currently has the capacity for 30 children, Schmidt said, and once word got out, the slots began filling quickly, she said. Currently, there is a waiting list for parents of infants, but the center still has openings for older children.