With many young families moving to Portage, the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Stepping Stones Early Learning Center on Friday, November 3 came at the perfect time to accommodate the childcare needs of both incoming and current Portage residents.
“We have been looking at expanding to Portage, and we had been looking for close to a year when we found this building,” said Stepping Stones Owner Angie Scott. “We were trying to branch out here in Portage because the area we’re in is considered a childcare desert. It was important to have something like this on the north side.”
With the help of Chester, Inc., a few grants, and several partnerships, Stepping Stones was able to purchase and renovate the building to repurpose it as an early learning center.
“Having that transition from a building that is almost 30 years old and it feeling like it’s brand new with a whole new life is my favorite part of this project,” said Chester Sales Engineer and Owner Tony Peuquet. “Childcare facilities are strenuous for architectural staff and on the project management staff because the state requirements are very strict. You have to know what those codes are and adhere to them in order for them to be permitted. Every square foot and square inch counts towards being able to have a childcare facility.”
The existing building had served several purposes before Chester worked with Stepping Stones to develop blueprints and completely transform the initially 6000-square-foot facility. Chester Project Manager Chad Copeland revealed that Chester went in and gutted the building: they rerouted plumbing, cut floors open, and took out every interior wall.
“Basically, the only thing we kept was the outer walls, and then we started from scratch inside. We added nearly 7000 square feet,” Copeland said. “Every classroom has to have an exit to the outdoors. The classrooms all have playgrounds outside of them which is dictated by the number of kids that will be in each classroom. A lot of the design aspects were built around hitting the target goal of how many students they wanted to have in the space.”
Every classroom is monitored and requires key fob entry to protect the children on a daily basis. In case of emergency, the facility possesses a state-of-the-art lockdown system. Other features include two classrooms per age group, outdoor playgrounds attached to each classroom, jack-and-jill bathrooms, an industrial kitchen, crib dividers, and multi-purpose furniture from Natural Pod.
“You’re able to do something different with every single piece of Natural Pod furniture,” said Stepping Stones Director of Operations Courtney Walters. “You can flip over the benches, but if you flip them over, kids can play on them like they’re ships. That’s Natural Pod’s niche: everything has another purpose.”
As Stepping Stones is not only a childcare center but also an early learning center, every classroom will have a different lesson plan that will cater to the developmental stages of the classroom’s respective age group.
“The infants’ lesson plans will be about things like exploring water,” Walters said. "School-age kids will have more hands-on things like science, and we will be utilizing a creative curriculum for all of our age groups. It's a research-based curriculum that helps us with lesson plans.”
While an official opening date is still in the works, Walters anticipates the facility will open in a month. In the meantime, there is an enrollment waitlist families can fill out ahead of the grand opening. Stepping Stones is actively hiring and looking for a minimum of 36 employees, including two cooks. To keep up with all things Stepping Stones, follow the Facebook page here.
For more information about Chester, Inc., visit chesterinc.com.
