Under the Son beyond expectations

Evelynn, Brinley and Abby are ready to take ice cream orders in the preschool/school-aged classroom at Under the Son Childcare Center in Schleswig. The childcare center has been awarded a $400,000 community block development grant. Photos by Gordon Wolf

When Under the Son Childcare Center in Schleswig opened on August 23, 2022, Mike Goodin and Stacy Jepsen could not imagine what the next year and a half would bring.

What it brought was a response that was beyond expectations.

“At least beyond my expectations,” said Goodin, a retired Schleswig businessman who led the effort to bring the childcare center to the community.

In the first promotional literature for Under the Son Childcare Center, Goodin advertised a large classroom as an indoor playground.

“I didn’t think it would be full of kids,” he said.

“It’s never been an indoor playground,” added Jepsen.

She is the childcare center’s director with years of experience in the field, including 20 plus years at Head Start and Early Head Start in Denison, as a teacher and then as an education support coordinator.

“I thought we would have 25 toddlers and eight infants and that other room (what he thought would be the indoor playground) would be empty. No, immediately the childcare center was full, and we had to decide what we were going to do with all the kids,” Goodin continued.

“We were redesigning before the doors opened,” said Jepsen.

Under the Son Childcare Center has been at capacity with an enrollment of 48 children.

Nineteen families are on the waiting list.

Demand for childcare services wasn’t the only area of the project that exceeded expectations.

Funding for the childcare center is also better than hoped.

Within the past week, Goodin received word that the childcare center is receiving a $400,000 Community Block Development Grant (CBDG) from the Iowa Economic Development Authority.

The actual award amount is $420,000; Region XII Council of Governments will receive $20,000 for its work involved in writing and applying for the grant.

The grant is flowing through the City of Schleswig.

Goodin said that now the childcare center is roughly $80,000 away from being debt free.

The cost of the childcare building and fixtures and the startup costs amounted to roughly $900,000.

“We’ve had some major contributions, first of all the Jens A. Carstensen Family grant of $200,000 toward the building,” Goodin said. “The Carstensen Family fund was just tremendous. It allowed us to build and not incur debt right away.”

Donations from private businesses and industries and a fundraiser that brought in $24,000 helped to lower the amount of debt the childcare center has had to carry.

And now with the $400,000 CBDG, along with an earlier grant, the state has given the childcare center roughly $515,000.

“Our next goal is to retire the $80,000 remaining in debt,” Goodin explained. “We want to get to zero (debt) because it’s well known that daycares of this stature don’t turn a profit, so we cannot be retiring debt and running a successful childcare. With the annual contribution of $50,000 from the Carstensen Family, we can break even (each year) and maybe get a little bit more for the employees and add to the facilities as far as playground equipment and essential items.”

Goodin said those involved with Under the Son are very thankful for all funding received, including the private donations.

“We’ve done everything we can to make sure that a community-owned non-profit childcare facility is not a financial burden,” he said.

He added that in seeking the $400,000 grant, the need for childcare, the number of families served and the jobs created were highlighted in the application.

Under the Son Childcare Center employs 13 people; about half are full-time and half are part-time. Five of the staff have been with the childcare center since the beginning.

Ages of children served by Under the Son are from six weeks old up to 12 years old.

Children are divided into three rooms according to age – infants and waddlers (six weeks to two years old), toddlers (two- and three-year-olds), and preschool to 12 years old.

Jepsen has had to be flexible and creative in making as much space available as possible for children.

“We have families that currently have children enrolled and the mother is pregnant, so right now we’re in the process of trying to move children from our infant room into our toddler room,” she said. “Some of the kids in the toddler room will move to the preschool/school-aged classroom, so we’re in the process of making room for those babies that will be coming here in May or June.

“That’s probably been the biggest challenge, trying to figure out how to make room for these families,” she added. “Some have been on the waiting list for quite a long time, and some haven’t. We’ve even rearranged the classrooms to better accommodate our families.”

In an earlier configuration, Under the Son had room for only nine babies. The babies are now in a larger room so the childcare center can serve more children from six weeks old to two years old. The toddlers, a smaller group, went into the room where the babies had been. The reschool/school-aged children are in the large room that Goodin initially envisioned as an indoor playground.

The changes also mean moving staff to meet the ratio requirements of staff to children.

“What we’ve been doing is what we can to best accommodate everybody - families and staff,” said Jepsen.

“I always feel bad when families call and they want to know how soon their children can be enrolled, and I have that wait list,” Jepsen added. “I wish I had more space.”

She said the fact that there is a waiting list shows the need for childcare in the area.

When space opens, Jepsen updates the waiting list to see which families are still waiting.

“You find out that some are still waiting because they want daycare that’s in Schleswig, or maybe they had family taking care of their child and they want center-based care,” she explained.

“We have had people ask if daycare is available in Schleswig before they’ve moved. Daycare is a big deal,” said Goodin.

Jepsen added that some families ask to be put on the waiting list as soon as they find out they are expecting a child.

The families served are from throughout the area. Kiron, Ida Grove, Charter Oak, Denison, Odebolt and Ricketts are some of the towns mentioned by Jepsen and Goodin.

Under the Son Childcare Center provides education and in-house meals for families.

Teachers in the toddler room and in the preschool classroom plan lessons every week, using state guidelines.

The infant room also has a lesson plan that is followed on a day-to-day basis, adjusted for the number of children in the room on any given day.

All activities in each room match up to Iowa learning standards. The staff documents how children are doing and their growth.

Story Ads 1

The Schleswig Community School picks up the school-aged children from Under the Son and transports them to and from the Schleswig school or Immanuel Lutheran Preschool.

Meals are prepared on site at the childcare center by Cara Jorgensen, who has been a cook for 18 plus years.

The Under the Son Childcare Center was designed so it can expand, but there are no immediate plans to add to the building. Along with the costs, finding more staff is an issue.

“In a town of 850 we’re already at capacity at the childcare center,” Goodin said.

He added that a couple years ago he spoke to the Denison Rotary Club. One person asked about the capacity of Under the Son and how he planned to fill the childcare center in a town the size of Schleswig.

“My answer was it’s like any business,” said Goodin. “If you’re very good, people will go out of their way to do business with you. People will make an effort to take advantage of your services. And I think that’s where we are, as a general statement.”

“I appreciate the dedication and commitment that each staff gives to our center and appreciate each family for trusting us with their children,” said Jepsen. “We try hard each day to make a difference in the lives of our children here and always provide experiences for them to learn new things. I would also like to personally thank each person in the community who has stopped by to visit, toured our center and has supported us during the last few years.”