Little Peaks preschool to build new, expanded daycare center

KEENE | With an eye toward helping meet a critical Adirondack need, the Little Peaks Preschool in Keene announced this week it will build a new daycare center and hire additional staff, providing all-day service for up to 33 children, from infancy through school age. The ripple effects have the potential to extend far beyond child care, as such a facility — an Adirondack rarity — is seen as a key to economic and family development, and to attracting young, talented people to the area. When the town began work on an updated comprehensive plan two years ago, child care was identified by the community as one of four critical needs that had to be addressed.Great stretches of the Adirondacks have been described as a "daycare desert," and local governments and organizations have started seeing child care as a key component of a healthy workforce and community. "This is a dream that is becoming a reality," said Annie Scavo, chair of the Little Peaks board of directors. Board member Dan Mason, his wife Debby Rice and his brother Dave provided the original seed money to get this project off the ground, Scavo said. Many others have followed suit. The new center will be built on land across from Town Hall owned by the Housing Assistance Program of Essex County, and is being made possible through private donations and funding from the Adirondack Foundation. The plan is to have it operational in 2022. Little Peaks was founded as a preschool for 3- and 4-year-olds in 1993, open two mornings a week from 8:30 to 11:30 a.m. The number of days increased, but the hours stayed the same, as did the ages. "We started assessing the need for infants and toddlers too, and it became clear this was a huge need for Keene and the entire community," said Little Peaks Director Katherine Brown. With the new center, children from 3 months to 5 years will be accommodated, and the capacity will increase to 33. The hours of operation at the new center will also expand from 8 a.m to 5:30 p.m. To care for the children, the staff will increase from four to 12. "The goal is to make these living wage jobs," Brown said, which the organization hopes will attract well-qualified professionals to the area. That's counter to traditional daycare, where low pay is more the norm. Employee retention is also important to Little Peaks because it's important that a child not be subjected to a high turnover of caregivers. "There needs to be continuity of care from an infant to three years old so they can build a relationship with another loving adult," Brown said. There is also indirect value in having a comprehensive daycare center. "It shows that our town values families and children," Brown said. "We very much want to be a center for families." The center is open to families outside of Keene as well, and scholarships are available to people in need. Little Peaks will launch a fundraiser in the near future to help with construction, and create an endowment. Scavo said the board looked at existing buildings, but with state regulations, repurposing an older building for a daycare facility is problematic. For example, in preparation for an emergency, all carriages must be capable of being rolled out the door — meaning no stairs. The piece of property on Dart Brook fits well with Little Peaks' nature-based emphasis. "It's sunny and level with woods and a brook and a view of the mountains," Scavo said. "We're very excited about our new home."

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Little Peaks preschool to build new, expanded daycare center

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