Arcadia school district's child care center to offer 30 new slots in coming months

ARCADIA, Wis. (WKBT) -- Finding reliable, affordable child care is a challenge for many families in rural Wisconsin.

The Arcadia school district will soon make it easier for some Trempealeau County families after deciding to expand their child care program.

The Arcadia school district opened up Little Raiders Childcare Center in 2021 after seeing a lack of child care options in the community.

"We needed it, we surveyed our parents, we surveyed our staff, it's something that we definitely needed and it's going to continue to grow," said elementary school Principal Paul Halverson

In three years, Little Raiders has grown to 108 students.

"No one expected our center to get as big as it has. The expectations were a lot smaller I think and now we're out of space," said Little Raiders Director Jolynn Wendt.

But demand continues to grow.

"I added my 39th person to the waitlist just this week," she said.

The district knew they'd need to expand the center soon, and the perfect opportunity presented itself when a nearby building went up for sale.

"Our Board of Ed. was very confident that we could do this," said Arcadia's Superintendent Lori Frerk. "Then I was able to work through, purchase the building at a lower rate than what was expected."

The center will move all of the children under the age of two into the new building. They'll restructure their current space to serve their older kids.

"The hope is to open up around 30 spots center wide, but it is going to double the amount of infant care that we can provide," Wendt said.

From helping the district retain staff to preparing kids for school, Wendt says expanding Little Raiders will only help the community flourish.

"It's going to benefit the community and that is what we should always be worried about when we talk about tax dollars and funding, how do we support the people that are going to be a part of our community one day when they're older. And that's our intention here."

Little Raiders will have to hire a few more teachers because of the center's expansion, but they are confident they will be able to find the right people.

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