Murphy – Southwestern Child Development Center announced on Oct. 16, 2023 closures of child care facilities across the region that would occur at the end of that month. At the time of the closings, nearly 50 children from working families in Cherokee County were at risk of being left without childcare.
The closures were a result of government funding running out post-COVID 19. Daycares were some of the first businesses to reopen during the pandemic to enable other essential workers to go back to work. Still, some families were hesitant to send their children back and the cost of food and supplies dramatically increased. This created the perfect storm of higher service costs and lower revenue, and once the supplemental funding ran out the Southwestern Child Development Centers had no other option than closure. This left families, staff, and local government officials scrambling to find a solution that wouldn’t affect these families.
“The initial closing was very scary. We were very confused as to what was happening and there weren’t that many answers,” said Brenda Crapse, a parent with two children attending Southwestern Child Development Center. “I was in panic mode because as a single working mom, I depend so heavily on my childcare services and with the transition so many other parents were dispersing to other childcare centers around us locally that within days all of the spots were filled.”
Crapse’s two children transitioned to attend Eagles Nest Early Learning Center, and she recalled the stress of the announcement and transition period.
“I had to cancel several of my very important doctor appointments,” she said. “The transition was difficult due to several long-term teachers leaving.”
Nicole Smith was contacted about potentially taking over the facility soon after the announcement. Once the decision to take over, and after completing a licensing process that typically takes 6 months or longer in a mere 5 days, on Nov. 1, 2023, the facility was reopened as Eagle’s Nest Early Learning Center & Preschool.
Eagle’s Nest also runs a center in Waynesville and both are owned by Smith and her husband. They initially decided to take on the Murphy facility because they had an existing staff in place who were willing to trust them and the process.
“We told them we would take care of them,” Smith said. Their main goal at that point was to get the center reopened without displacing any of the existing children or staff members.
Despite having secured the temporary license quickly there was still a lot of work that had to be done. When a daycare center switches ownership, inspections of the facility have to be done as if it is a completely new daycare site, even if nothing has changed.
“One thing that was fine when the daycare was running as Southwester Child Development Center suddenly wasn’t fine,” Smith said.
Smith is grateful for the community leaders, members, and especially parents and staff that showed them gratitude and support during this transition period. During that time, parents experienced limited hours due to staffing and training of new staff members.
Over the last year Smith said there has been “vast improvements” made. They are still working to get to a financial break-even point but have felt humbled by the entire process.
“It’s a lot of work, but the payment I receive is different than a financial payment. I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to keep this center open,” Smith said.
Smith has worked hard to show her staff how important and appreciated they are.
“Around the holidays last year it was important to find ways to provide them with PTO (paid time off), gifts, and bonuses. This was something many staff members hadn’t received previously,” she said.
Smith is also proud that they have been able to extend their hours to provide a more flexible and consistent service to the parents of this area.
“Now that there’s a consistent routine, consistent hours, and consistent workers, we love Eagle’s Nest Learning Center,” one parent said.
Challenges remain
While there have been many improvements Eagle’s Nest is still facing some challenges after the first year of being open.
“Staffing is always a battle,” Smith said, “It’s hard to compete with the budget of the public school system. … It’s hard keeping up with post-COVID wages.”
Early childhood education is historically underfunded. This is partially due to the lack of funding for rural communities. The formula used by the state assumes it costs less to run daycares in rural areas, but in reality, it costs more to provide daycare in small rural counties compared to large counties.
“Our staff are passionate about caring for these children. They have to be,” Smith said.
They’ve faced issues of going through the hiring and training process to lose teachers to the public school system. In addition, they’ve lost around 50% of their K-Prep (preschool) class to HeadStart and public-school Pre-K.
Because Eagle’s Nest is a 5-star rated, state-licensed childcare facility, this means they are held to the highest standard of childcare. This means fewer students per teacher, more space requirements, strict meal plans, and a time-consuming hiring process.
“We can only enroll based on the number of staff,” Smith said. This means that in order to maintain the required student to teacher ratios they have to plan time off carefully and be mindful of the lengthy hiring and training process.
Their facility capacity is 65 children, and they currently have 43 students enrolled ranging from infants to age 5. Eagle’s Nest has the space available and licensing for school-age children but faces a lack of staffing for this age range. They would like to eventually be able to provide after-school care and summer care for parents in the community.
A more recent challenge the daycare has faced is related to Hurricane Helene. They were required by the state to continue to adhere to the food program without any consideration for the availability of food supplies. “It was stressful trying to find the exact food items we needed right after the hurricane,” Smith said.
Eagle’s Nest Childcare Center & Preschool is open to receiving donations from the local community. Smith said donations of non-perishable foods and snacks, toys, dress-up clothing, books, art materials, educational materials, books, children’s clothing and shoes, wipes, diapers or pull-ups, and anything else appropriate for schooling infants through children aged 5 are always welcomed and appreciated.
When these items get worn out or run out it is the facilities responsibility to provide those items, which can be expensive for a daycare at this stage of operation.
How to apply
If you are considering daycares to send your child to Eagle’s Nest requires parents to first schedule a tour of the facility to ensure it will be a good fit for their child.
There are state, medical, and immunization forms required with application.
Details: For more information about the Eagle’s Nest Childcare Center & Preschool in Murphy go to eaglesnestchildcare.org.