Families visit the St. Alphonsus Early Childhood Education Center open house in Davenport Sept. 30.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
DAVENPORT — An open house Sept. 30 led to the enrollment of seven new youths and five interviews on site for staff positions at St. Alphonsus Early Childhood Education Center on the city’s southwest side.
Open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, the center cares for children ages 6 weeks to 12 years old but will accept older children with Individualized Education Program (IEP) plans, said Angie O’Brien, the new director. Future plans call for opening the center earlier, at 6 a.m., to accommodate more families.
The center, which opened in 2005 after St. Alphonsus Catholic School merged into All Saints Catholic School, offers an infant program (ages 6 weeks-12 months), toddler program (ages 1-3), preschool program (ages 3-4), and no school days/summer care (ages 5-12).
O’Brien said St. Alphonsus offers a safe environment, flexible hours, nutritious meals and enrichment activities including music, art and outdoor play. The center closed last month for a deep cleaning. “We de-cluttered each classroom and deep-cleaned all the classrooms. We moved the infant room and installed a bottle-making sink (for infants). We made an arts room/library. This helps them learn to transition,” she said.
Deep cleaning in the gym, which has a stage, clears the way for programs and events for families and removing childcare furniture from the upper rooms allows the center to operate on one level, O’Brien said. The center has added a maintenance room and a main office for parent communication and for employees’ breaks and lockers. “We made a giving area for families in need,” O’Brien added. “It’s full of brand new coats and gently used outfits for the parents to choose from. We were very busy.”
The facility is licensed by the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services and accepts state assistance for Iowa and Illinois but does not offer a state-certified preschool currently. Future plans call for obtaining that certification and offering a free preschool program. “We charge $220 per week for our full-time preschool (students).”
The center offers before- and after-care for school-aged students but not transportation. “Right now parents have to provide their own transportation.” Van transportation is a future goal, with plans to offer field trips in the summer and on no-school days.
A third goal is to “get a good Catholic curriculum in place for the teachers to teach the children on a daily basis,” O’Brien said. “The center is well set up. We have nice playgrounds, a wonderful cook, we are part of the food program, we are state certified, we are certifying all the teachers to be professional, we have a loving staff and a good team in management. We will have convenient hours for the job force,” she said.
The facility is certified to have up to 108 children. Currently, 20 school-age children are in the program. The center will open more classrooms as additional youths enroll. Summer field trips are available for school-age youths. “We may consider small-group field trips with the 3- and 4-year-olds,” O’Brien said.
“We are striving to give this part of town a safe and fun-loving place for the children to come.”
She said the center hired many new teachers at the open house. “As we take on new children, we will hire more teachers. We would need 7 more people willing to love and care for the children on a daily basis if we fill up to max capacity.”
“We would love to give new parents a tour of our center,” O’Brien said.
For more information
Visit the St. Alphonsus Early Childhood Education Center’s website at https://www.stalphonsusecec.org/, Facebook page at:
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61565578876454, call Angie O’Brien at 563-323-3204 or email davstalecec@diodav.org,
The center is located at 2626 Boies Ave., Davenport.
