New Childcare Partnership

At the beginning of the 2024-2025 school year, we had planned to host the before and after school childcare program in the elementary small gymnasium. However, at a very early cabinet meeting before the school year was even underway, substantial logistical issues surfaced that forced a shift. When advisors and directors of school programs passionately advocated for space, it became clear the small gym was not going to be a viable option. In the final analysis, I'm not so sure a compromise was reached to resolve the issue. My direct reports would probably just suggest that I simply told people where they were going to live for the school year. The end result was that one of our programs was promised a space that ultimately was taken away so we could move the childcare program to the location where it currently resides. This was never meant to be a permanent solution.

In fact, as I shared back in my February 25th post, we informed the Ys kids program that this would be the last year they would operate at Hudson Elementary. It really came down to a couple of key reasons. First, space was, and is going to be an issue. Second, as our needs have changed in the district the program has evolved. As such, the program no longer aligns with our revised expectations. Finally I'll say this: we have always been a staunch advocate of our community and want to support our community partnerships in any way we can. 

Perhaps it was faulty reasoning, but at that time I didn't really think there would be too much problem with childcare. From my standpoint, St. Timothy 'had the ball'. But it wasn't long afterward we learned that space limitations were going to be a constricting factor for them as well. Feedback and input from many of you encouraged us to re-examine the issue to see if we could find a viable solution. As we announced on Monday of this week, we have found that solution. 

The logistical issues that created barriers at the beginning of the school year still existed. But, with the benefit of time we were able to work our way through those logistics and come up with creative solutions. Hopefully my team will agree the pathway forward will be much smoother! So, now we are ready to start with a new partner for the 2025-2026 school year. St. Timothy will operate a satellite before and after school childcare program right here on campus, utilizing the small gym as their primary location. We are excited about the partnership and grateful for the work that has gone into the planning and preparation for the program. I am also grateful for the internal collaboration and problem-solving that had to happen in order to make this work.

The school site program will operate from 6:30 a.m. until the start of the school day. The after school session will be open until 6:00 p.m. A registration and orientation meeting will be held on Monday, May 5 at 5:30 p.m. at St. Timothy Lutheran Church. You can read the full press release right here.