A new early childhood learning facility has opened in Williamsburg to assist families in need of childcare and kickstart access to education resources.
The Williamsburg Independent School District, University of the Cumberlands (UC) and Main Street Baptist Church hosted a July 15 ribbon cutting ceremony to commemorate the opening of the Mighty Oaks Early Learning Center.
Mighty Oaks is a childcare and early learning facility servicing children from birth to three years old. It is operated by the Williamsburg Schools and financed by the UC. The physical space is provided by Main Street Baptist Church inside their renovated former Sunday School rooms. Partners for Rural Impact (PRI) and Child Care Aware of Kentucky have also collaborated to help bring early education access to Williamsburg.
Mighty Oaks Director Kayla Henderson is a UC graduate, a member of Main Street Baptist and has worked in the Williamsburg School system through grant programs including PRI’s Full-Service Community Schools Grant. She said representing all three main entities overseeing Mighty Oaks has been a fun way to give back to her community.
“I have gotten to be on the sidelines to see this from the get-go. In the process of it all found out I was expecting, so it became a lot more personal to me,” Henderson said.
She said while there are several quality childcare centers in the area, there are more families in need of assistance than the current available resources can handle.
“Multiple centers could open, and there would still be a need for additional childcare. Many families need this service so that they can work to provide, especially as the cost of living continues to rise,” she said.
Williamsburg Superintendent Tabetha Housekeeper said the idea for Mighty Oaks began when two Williamsburg High School students had a child.
“We worried about them, just like we worried about the baby,” she said. “I talked to Amon Couch, who works for Partners for Rural Impact, and we came up with this vision for hopefully opening the doors to childcare, not understanding we could have two very key partners in this.”
As the development process continued, Main Street Baptist and the UC joined the collaboration in service of the local community.
“We started to see this great need of childcare in our area. Our employees were looking for a great resource for childcare,” said UC President Quentin Young. “These folks are not just babysitting. It is true early childhood care. It is childhood development and seeing that they are receiving the cognitive support they need to grow.”
Mighty Oaks is staffed by Henderson, Assistant Director Cristal Meadors and eight staff members: Lauralynn Meiser, Baylee Carroll, Savannah Brooks, Melinda Howard, Madison Stephens, Anna Siler, Chloe Bays and Bella Morin.
Henderson said the educational programming at the facility will be curriculum and lesson-plan driven according to the Kentucky Early Childhood Standards. Kentucky’s birth to three learning standards focus on communication, motor skills, creative expression, cognitive abilities and social emotional development.
“If the parents are trying to potty train, we partner with them to do that. Whatever is going on at home, we try to make it work to be as seamless as possible for the kids,” she said.
Housekeeper said Mighty Oaks is part of the Williamsburg School District and PRI’s “cradle to career” approach to quality education.
“We want these baby acorns to become mighty oaks so they can become leaders in this community,” Housekeeper said. “We will love these babies as long as we have them, and we will take care of our staff as long as we have them.”
The cost of enrollment is $30 per day for each child. State assistance through the Child Care Assistance Program is available for eligible families. Henderson said she hopes to gain state funding for Mighty Oaks through Kentucky’s All STARS quality ratings system as soon as possible.
Mighty Oaks has a maximum enrollment capacity of 43 children. Henderson said there are currently 25 children enrolled and more in the process of completing the application process. UC, Main Street Baptist and Williamsburg schools each hold a number of reserved seats, but she said seats that remain empty will be open to the community.
“I think there are really awesome things happening,” Henderson said. “We want to be at capacity, and I hope we are bursting at the seams and have to expand. That would be the goal right now, to love on the community as much as possible.”
For more information about Mighty Oaks Early Learning Center and enrollment opportunities, contact Henderson at kayla.henderson@wburg.kyschools.us.
