Kids X-Cel Center to open June 2

Public familiarized with center during open house

By KREMENA TODOROVA

Journal Staff Writer

NEW ULM -- The Kids X-Cel Center, a new child care facility sponsored by Parents for Partnership (PIP), is ready to open June 2, the public learned at the center's first open house Thursday.

The center, licensed for 30 children to start with, will open at temporary quarters at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 125 S. Broadway. It intends to operate there until its own building is constructed at an unspecified future date.

The newly spruced-up Kids X-Cel facility at St. Peter's church features freshly painted and decorated rooms -- two for infants, one for toddlers, and a large, two-section room for pre-schoolers and school-age kids. The equipment has been obtained from a child care center that just closed.

What makes the new center different from currently available care centers is its emphasis on a developmentally appropriate curriculum, says Director Annette Reker. The curriculum offers "a blend of academic, social and value-based development."

Academics taught at the center includes letters, numbers and colors. Social development includes friendship, helping others and community awareness, and values include honesty, sharing, respect and integrity. Daily schedules provided to parents at the open house list activities such as "large muscle development," "story time," "cooking and science time," "weather, calendar time and stories," "learning centers" and "circle time, music and finger plays." The activities in the schedules are age-specific.

Because it is curriculum-based, the center intends to seek state accreditation, says Reker. (According to regulations, it has to stay in operation for two years before applying for accreditation.)

Another drawing card for the center are its flexible hours, says Reker.

Started as a result of community activism in response to the shortage of child care facilities with extended schedules, the center will be open 5:30 a.m. until 6 p.m. Reker says that extended hours will be added "as demand warrants" when the center moves to its permanent site.

The center will begin with six infants, six toddlers, nine pre-schoolers and nine school-age children, with ages ranging from 6 weeks to 9 years. Four families have already returned the paperwork necessary to enroll, says Reker. Quite a few more families have requested enrollment packets.

The center will be staffed by two full-time and one part-time teacher, with Reker also teaching part-time. The minimum teacher qualification at the center is a four-year college degree in early childhood or elementary education.

The center has made arrangements with Martin Luther College to welcome student teachers as well, says Reker. While the student teachers' main focus will be infants and toddlers, they will have access to other rooms as well. (The arrangement benefits the college, too, since student teachers from MLC now go to Comfrey to complete their early childhood practicums.)

The center will have an open-door policy. Parents will be welcome to observe and interact in the children's classrooms. Meetings of the board, made up of volunteers and parents, will be open to all parents and community members.

The center will use several methods of communication with parents: daily infant and toddler information, weekly classroom schedules, newsletters and a monthly center update. Parent-teacher conferences will be held twice a year, in spring and fall, says Reker.

A non-profit project directed by PIP, the center is funded with donations from New Ulm businesses and individuals and some loans and grants, including a $700,000 EDA loan for the future new building and $100,000 for administrative expenses from Kraft.

Full-time weekly rates (based on 48 hours a week) range from $105 to $130, depending on kids' age. Part-time care rates (based on 30 hours or less) range from $65 to $85. Hourly rates vary from $2.50 to $3.25, with hourly care based on availability.

The center is not affiliated with St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Reker says, in response to a frequently asked question. It is only leasing the lower level of the church.