CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With its buckets of books, beaded art lining the walls, twinkling lights, fiber baskets, and leafy green plants, everything looks like something to touch and explore inside Ivybrook Academy.
And soon, there will be more opportunities to explore for bigger kids.
The child care chain with locations in both Carolinas, including five in the Charlotte area, is expanding its services to include kindergarten. The expanded education offering is part of a larger trend of daycare centers that now moving to serve school-aged children.
“I had a lot of parents that were coming to me as things just started to begin saying ‘I’m really not comfortable sending my child off to school,’” said Kailee Bowen, owner and director of Ivybrook Academy of Fort Mill. “We want to give them as normal of an experience as possible in what is not a normal time.”
Bowen’s school previously served toddlers through transitional-kindergarten. This fall, they are enrolling for kindergarten as well to meet the demands in the community.
As more and more schools announce learning models that pose a challenge for working families, many are seeking alternatives to public school models for their older children, Bowen said.
And because they are not a public school, they operate under the regulations for child care centers.
“Child care centers have continued to operate through all of this,” Bowen said. “We do not have to follow exactly what the public school system is doing.”
Private schools and daycare centers are able to restrict classroom sizes, purchase advanced cleaning services, supplies and equipment, customize their PPE, and often remain open long after the public schools are required to close.
“It does make it so much more comfortable for our families knowing that they are in a smaller environment and that we can keep that stability we can keep operating,” Bowen said.
The demand is not unique to child care centers. WCNC Charlotte inquired about full-day child care options at a number of locations in the Charlotte area including private schools, YMCA’s, and child care centers. We found many locations that have now begun offering full or partial-day child care through 8th grade. Many of them report high demand and long waitlists.
Bowen said she has been getting a lot of inquiries from current families, as well as new, potential ones who are looking for a bit more certainty in an uncertain time. And while she can’t guarantee that they will be able to remain open for the duration of the pandemic, Bowen said it is their top priority.
“That stability is so important,” Bowen said. “Hands-on learning is so important, so we are taking all the precautions necessary so that is possible.”