'Lighthearted and fun': New YMCA daycare in St. Clair slated to open later this month

ST. CLAIR - The signs are up, toys and learning tools for different ages set in place, and colorful décor is arranged in each classroom — newly named with a woodland theme.

“It’s just more lighthearted and fun,” Shanna Graham, early childcare director at the Warm World Childcare and Education Center, said of the classroom names, which include things like the deer den.

It’s there at the Eddy Center, a former decades-old public school at 301 N. Ninth St., that the YMCA of the Blue Water Area is set to open the new daycare facility later this month.

After months of overseeing major renovations to retrofit the rear wing of Eddy, a redeveloped old public elementary school, the agency received notification of its formal licensure last week.

And now, they’re planning an open house for 5 to 8 p.m. June 15 to give parents and community members a preview.

Previously, Josh Chapman, president and CEO of the regional Y, and other county leaders have emphasized the need to fill a growing need for daycare access for local families — daycare services were also an identified Blue Meets Green priority two years ago — and on Thursday, the Y official additionally addressed providing “these critical openings to the pre-K landscape.”

“More slots across our region permit more access, improved success in the K-12 system and allows families to increase participation in or rejoin the workforce,” Chapman said in an initial statement, “especially moms who most often take on the responsibility when quality care is unavailable.”

How did this get started?

During a tour of the facility Thursday, Chapman and childcare staff reflected on opening up the new facility, as well as the renovation and licensing process that got them there.

The YMCA began talks with Eddy Center developers in 2021 — a discussion that helped lead to a shift in project plans at the old school away from senior housing — before, Chapman said, the Y’s board signed off on the new daycare facility in the summer of 2022.

Contract, licensing, and renovation processes soon kicked off. But officials admitted it took a little longer to check all the boxes for licensure than expected.

A big part of it, they said, was the nature of rehabilitating a decades-old school building for modern daycare needs and additional structural pieces they had to tack on to the rehab — things like a new sink and pump system for a secondary hand-washing statement in a classroom split for different age groups.

“After it sits for a period of time, then here comes all these other problems that come up that we have to fix,” said office coordinator Janet Kamsickas.

Chapman replied, “And they don’t come out prior to say, ‘I want you to do this, this, and this.’”

Now, Kamsickas said they plan to open June 18. They’d begun signing children up on Wednesday.

“As of right now, we do have two full-time staff in each room,” Graham said. “We are still looking for a three-year-old lead (teacher), but we have enough to start.”

Their licensed capacity to operate year-round, according to the state, is 109. That license as listed expires Dec. 6. Kamsickas pointed to a breakdown of 12 infants, eight toddlers, and 24 in each three-, four-, and five-year-old age group.

Rob Drewek, a principal partner with Eddy Development LLC, declined to get into details in a private lease agreement.

According to the Y, opening the new education center got a boost from community members and groups like the Community Foundation of St. Clair County, as well as foundation funds, including the St. Clair Endowment Funds, Women’s Initiative, and the Kusch Family Donor Advised Fund.

Staff excited to get started 'from the ground up'

The Eddy Center itself is situated inside a woodsy neighborhood.

Kamsickas said that it already being an old school may bring a helpful familiarity as the daycare grows, adding, “I think this, too, being an old school in their school system, parents might feel more comfortable.”

And many of the details inside are geared toward the kids — from the usual fixtures closer to the floor for pint-sized access to the painted sun covering a wall at the end of a hall.

“The cool thing is this was already a preschool, right? So, it lent itself well to retrofit. It made sense,” Chapman said. “There’s not a lot of already previously licensed childcare centers sitting around, waiting to be utilized.”

“We obviously (installed) new floors and ripped out the lockers,” he added. “We repainted everything. When this was done, social and emotional wellness were things that were theoretical, so we really (try to address) those things. But relatively speaking, it’s way easier to retrofit a former preschool than it is to build a new preschool center.”

Ahead of the open house, staff said they were looking forward to getting started.

“I’m excited to have this opportunity to provide and also be a part of this whole process,” Graham said. “This is my first time being a director, being from the ground up. That aspect of the opening is an awesome opportunity.”

For information on availability or to schedule a tour, those interested can contact Graham at (810) 987-6400, ext. 324.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @Jackie20Smith.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: New YMCA daycare in St. Clair slated to open later this month