Elizabeth School District’s ribbon cutting ceremony for its improved and expanded child-care facility was held on Aug. 5 at 200 E. Maple St. in Elizabeth. District leadership, including Superintendent Dan Snowberger, ESD childcare staff, preschool staff and representatives from the Elizabeth Area Chamber of Commerce all came to show their support.
ESD’s Director of Early Childhood Education Karena Dohman said the event, organized in conjunction with the Chamber, celebrated their expansion through their new classroom. This is the program’s second year, and is the first year that it will operate year-round. The hours have also been extended to better meet the needs of working parents.
The school district received a Buell Foundation grant to cover classroom materials for a new classroom. The expansion of childcare offerings has increased the facility’s capacity from 20 to 30 and allowed the district to hire more teachers. In total, the facility now has two toddler classrooms and one infant classroom. In the future, Dohman said she hopes the childcare center can expand even more.
ESD’s Childcare Center was opened in 2024 “to address a crucial community need by establishing an Infant and Toddler program to address the lack of accessible childcare services for children aged 0-3 in our rural area and beyond,” Dohman said in a written statement.
“In addition to creating childcare spots for our community, the childcare center also provides local employment for six people,” Dohman said. “The center not only benefits our educators but also supports essential community members such as local fire and police personnel.” ESD offers district employees a 50% discount and city or county employees a 30% discount on childcare services.
“Leveraging existing resources, including a portable building for renovation, the school district funded the initial investment needed to open the facility. By filling this childcare gap, we’re not only retaining teachers but also supporting vital community services and strengthening the economic development of the wider Elizabeth and Elbert County community,” she went on.
Snowberger said the childcare center is an important service not only to staff, but to the entire community. “Elbert County has few infant or toddler care programs and we’ve lost many staff in the past as a result,” he said. “The addition of this program last year allowed us to retain numerous staff. We are excited to further expand the program this year allowing greater capacity. We are especially proud of offering a discount to town employees and employees of Elizabeth Fire Department. Now that the program will operate year round, we hope that it will provide support to employees of these important community agencies as well.”
He believes supporting employees who serve our community is the right thing to do. “We are also glad to provide the service to parents in our community who need such care for their children,” he went on. “We hope we can further expand this program, potentially even at Singing Hills Elementary site in the future.”
For more information about the Elizabeth School District, visit elizabethschooldistrict.org. To learn more about ESD’s Childcare program, including tuition and daily schedule, visit elizabethschooldistrict.org/childcare.
People are also welcome to reach out to Dohman at [email protected] or 303-646-6759.
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