Valley Village Childcare Center Establishes Partnership with UW College of Education

Less than a year after the Valley Village Childcare Center (VVC) opened its doors at their new location in the Ray A. Corbett Building, the VVC board established a partnership with the Wyoming Early Childhood Professional Learning Collaborative (Collaborative).

The Collaborative is a Trustees Education Initiative outreach in the College of Education at the University of Wyoming which partners with early childhood programs across the state of Wyoming to provide mentoring, coaching and professional learning opportunities for program leaders and teachers, according to a press release from the University of Wyoming.

The work focuses on elevating quality and building capacity within childcare programs by supporting leaders in local communities.

The Collaborative team met with the VVC board to talk about opportunities for their teaching team earlier this year.

In a press release from the VVC, they stated they are celebrating their successes of the first year in the Corbett Building. "Their checklist of things to do has been completed. The staff and children are thriving." The VVC said they are very proud that their efforts have been recognized by the University of Wyoming Department of Education.

As this partnership grows, VVC will become a placement site for College of Education early childhood education students to complete practicum placements and internships, adding to the network of quality programs across the state.

The Administration

Caitlyn Feakes has been the director of VVC for two-and-one half years. She was involved in the planning and move to the new building.

On January 5, 2024, VVC had a soft opening of the childcare portion of the building so the children and parents could see the new building.

It was a big change from the old building they had on Bridge Avenue, Feakes said.

Assistant Director Jamie Messina was in total agreement. It was a change for the good.

Feakes was excited about having bathrooms designed for children in the classroom, rather than two bathrooms for the whole building.

The building also includes a laundry facility where the teachers can do laundry for items used in the building. Before moving to the new building, the teachers and staff alternated doing the laundry in their home over the weekend.

The former space didn't allow for privacy in Zoom meetings and Feakes would have to use a broom closet to ensure privacy. Now she has an office which provides that privacy.

When working on the design for the building, Feakes suggested instead of all carpet in the classroom, to put an area with wood floors, so that the children could paint and "be messy" without ruining the carpet.

Feakes likes having the outside access for each classroom. In the mornings, VVC has morning recess with the toddlers and pre kindergarten classes and, in the afternoon, they have recess with all the children in the childcare portion. ExCel has a separate recess period because of licensing regulations, Feakes said.

The VVC has openings in all three classes, but, in May, they will have a lot of children who will graduate from preschool to kindergarten and they will have severalmore openings then.

Feakes said the State of Wyoming offers a childcare subsidy for parents to enroll their children in licensed daycares and the staff at the VVC are encouraging parents to investigate it to see if they qualify. That website is dfs.wyo.gov/services/family-services/child-care.

As the director, Feakes supervises the staff, writes up the schedule and writes the monthly newsletter for parents. She also does the enrollment paperwork, makes sure that the VVC meets all the licensing requirements and that the teachers are up-to-date on their training. Her other duties include the paperwork on the children and employees are up to date and ordering supplies for the childcare.

Liz Wood

The toddler room extends around the corner for room for children to run around and have fun. Each room has a bathroom for children and a full sized sink for cleaning up messes in the craft area.

Feakes came to Saratoga from Denver five-and-one-half years ago, but she has roots in Saratoga as her grandmother went to school in the Platte Valley for a short time.

Feakes taught first grade in Denver.

Jamie Messina has lived in the Platte Valley for nearly 10 years. She worked at Brush Creek Ranch for six years before working as a paraprofessional at the Saratoga Elementary School for one year and two years at the Saratoga Middle/High School. She started working for the VVC on February 19, 2024.

Her responsibilities include running the childcare in Feakes absence, keeping families informed of student progress, resolving any concerns with the family maintaining confidentiality, completing child development requirements and is currently taking a credential course at the University of Wyoming.

"Caitlyn is a genius when it comes to all the licensing and paperwork," Messina said, which allows Messina to help out where needed.

Messina jokes that she went from wrangling at Brush Creek to wrangling toddlers at VVC.

Messina came from the small town of Munson in western Massachusetts.

She loves working at the VVC and said the staff gets along really well. She enjoys working with the children. She especially likes snuggling with the babies in the infant room.

"You go in and snuggle and all your worries go away," Messina said.

The Staff

VVC employs many staff members. Three teachers are in the preschool class, with three in the toddler class and two in the infant class plus a couple of aides.

Working in the preschool class are Shaelee Hamaan, Harley Dinkins and Hanna Miller. In the toddler room the teachers are Messina, Kiersten (Bartlett) Gray and Lindsey Miller. In the baby room the teachers are Jenna Dew and Whitney Schlager. Aids are Jaida Jennings, Piper Gray and Caitlin Casner. Casner works as a nurse's aid for Carbon County School District No.2 and works at the childcare facility as an aide after school hours.

Feakes defines Allison Gonzales as their most important person - the cook and housekeeper. They are very excited to have her on board. Messina said she always seems to have kitchen duty when pasta is served for lunch and she struggled with sweeping the noodles off the wooden floor.

Having Gonzales on board has made both of the administrators jobs easier, as Feakes was cooking the meals in addition to her other duties, and the rest of the staff did the clean up.

A Typical Day

Staff arrives before VVC opens for the children and gets the building ready for the day. Children start arriving at 7:30 a.m. and are checked in using an iPad and then go to the preschool room. The ExCel children have breakfast early before going to their classroom on the other side of the building. The toddlers eat breakfast in the dining area while the preschool students continue to play in the preschool room and the infants go into the infant room.

Once the toddlers finish breakfast, the preschoolers eat breakfast while the toddlers go into the toddler room for playtime or craft time. After breakfast, the preschoolers go outside for recess and then morning snacks. The toddlers have recess and the preschoolers do learning and playtime in the classroom. ExCel Developmental Preschool has recess after the students return to their classroom.

The children break for lunch and nap time. After nap time, the toddlers have snacks while the preschoolers have reading and quiet time followed by snacks.

The children also participate in music movement, dance and activity time to burn off energy, especially on days when the weather prevents time outside for recess.

A tour through the building during a typical day shows children learning, playing and laughing. That is a good sign of success.

Parents interested in enrolling their children in childcare can call the VVC at 307-326-7667.