Daycare openings at this Somerset facility may double. Here's what needs to happen first

Ten young children from The Learning Lamp Center for Children in Somerset tossed small scoops of dirt into the air Tuesday while local business leaders and government officials watched and cheered them on.

Those 4-year-olds may not have fully understood the significance of those shovels of dirt, but they should see the results in about a year: six up-to-date classrooms, more room to play inside, and more children around to learn and grow with them. The Learning Lamp held the ceremonial ground breaking to officially launch a three-phase project to expand and make improvements to its Somerset child care center, located at 451 Aberdeen Drive.

Leah Spangler — founding executive director of The Learning Lamp — said the total cost of the project is approximately $2 million, which includes the purchase of the building.

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What work is being done at the Somerset Learning Lamp?

Work is already underway to renovate a previously unused part of the building into three new classrooms, each with its own child-sized bathroom and a kitchenette for preparing lunch. This area was once a fitness center.

A “gross motor skills” area, where the children can run and play indoors, is also included in the work.

The first phase of the project, and much of the second phase — which is intended to renovate the center’s current child care area to match the new space — is being funded through individual contributions, a number of grants and $67,500 in tax credits donated by local businesses through the state’s Neighborhood Assistance Program. Local tax credit contributors include AmeriServ, 1st Summit Bank, Northwest Bank, Somerset Trust Co. and UPMC-Somerset.

“I think the children will see how important they are to the community and to the commonwealth,” said Neil Weaver, acting secretary for the state Department of Community & Economic Development, aka DCED, which administers the Neighborhood Assistance Program.

“(The Learning Lamp is) doing amazing things in child care for this county and for the region. Child care is so important to us at DCED — not just for the human aspect, that children deserve the best care possible, but also because child care is truly an economic development issue. ... It’s one of the largest factors that is causing our current labor shortages. A lack of child care means millions of parents have to stay home and take care of their kids rather than go back to work.”

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How will the new Learning Lamp facility help families and children?

Josh Yoder, chair of The Learning Lamp's board, said in his remarks that Somerset County is one of six “child care deserts” in the state of Pennsylvania, which means that there are many more children in the county who need child care than there are places for them to go.

“This is not a distinction that we want to have,” he said. “Without care, capable people leave the workforce, sometimes never to return. In fact, in 2021, only half of the families who needed care in Somerset County were able to find it. A March 2022 survey by Start Strong Pennsylvania identified hundreds of children on a child care wait list in the county.

“When no one is available to care for the children, it is difficult for a parent to go to work.”

Yoder said that it’s important to note that the children benefit from these services as well, since 90% of the human brain’s development occurs by the age of 5.

“When a child is enrolled in quality care, foundational language and math skills develop, social skills are learned and the child is fully prepared for kindergarten,” he said. “When the child arrives at Kindergarten ready to learn, he or she is more likely to be proficient in reading by grade 3 and less likely to need special education services.

"Quality early childhood experiences make a difference.”

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Spangler said that the Somerset center’s staff has earned the Keystone Star 4 Level rating, which is the highest level possible in the Pennsylvania Department of Education's child care ratings system.

“We’re trying to do a really good job serving children and families,” she said. “Unfortunately, early learning and the way it’s funded often means children and families are served in facilities that are substandard. So our goal as an organization is to increase the quality of the facilities so that families feel good about where they’re taking their children to spend their day.”

The upgrades are also designed to improve the children’s learning environment and the staff’s ability to care for their students.

“Supervision is one of the most important things you do in child care, because you’re taking care of other people’s children,” Spangler said. “You need to have eyes on them every moment you’re with them. By having restrooms in the classroom, it will make it a lot easier for the teacher to continue with lessons if a student has to use the restroom.

“In general, the classroom will be much more conducive to early childhood education. There will be windows (where previously there were no windows), there will be doors to the outside (where there were no doors) and a kitchenette (in each classroom).”

How many children are accepted at the Somerset Learning Lamp?

Spangler said the new classroom space should be ready for use at the end of summer. The children are then to move into the new classroom space so that renovations can begin on the older rooms.

Once the interior work is finished and the expanded center is licensed by the state, The Learning Lamp should be able to double its enrollment at the facility. The Somerset center currently includes 64 children, Spangler said, and the goal is to serve 134 children, which allows another 60-70 families in the county to have access to child care.

That increased enrollment would also allow The Learning Lamp to hire an additional 27 staff for part-time and full-time positions at the Somerset center, she said.

The Learning Lamp is still working to raise funds for the third phase of the project, which would update the building’s exterior and make improvements to the landscaping, playground and parking lot.

Anyone interested in contributing to the improvements underway at The Learning Lamp Center for Children in Somerset can donate online through the Child Care Works for Somerset Campaign at the Community Foundation for the Alleghenies. Donors can click on the donate button at the top right of The Learning Lamp website and then choose the link to Child Care Works for Somerset Campaign.

“This facility does not represent the quality of the work that is happening in this building, so we have decided it’s time we fixed that,” Spangler said. “The work that happens in this building — and in every early childhood facility in Somerset — is the foundation on which the future of our community rests.”

This article originally appeared on The Daily American: Learning Lamp to add classrooms, expand enrollment at Somerset center