Maharishi School Children’s House Expands Preschool and Child Care Services
Maharishi School Children’s House is expanding their child care and preschool services at the start of the new school year, by adding 24 new spaces for children.
They will now offer child care and preschool services to fifty-nine children this fall, compared to 35 spaces in the 2017-2018 school year.
Their new expansion will now have one classroom serving sixteen children ages eighteen months to three-year-old. They will have two classrooms serving forty-three children ages three-year-old to six-years-old. They will also be adding eight children to their afternoon program. This will expand full-day services to forty-two children. The expansion of services has resulted in hiring additional staff.
Michelle Svenson was recently hired as the new director of the Maharishi School Children’s House. She started with Maharishi School Children’s House in January 2015 and served as an assistant teacher and lead teacher before assuming responsibilities as the director in June 2018. Maharishi School Children’s House is a licensed center with the Department of Human Services and the child care and preschool services are open to anyone in the general public. They also participate in the State Child Care Assistance Program and the Iowa/Jefferson/Keokuk Early Childhood Iowa Preschool Scholarship Program to assist families with costs of tuition.
Michelle Svenson, said, Maharishi School Children’s House offers a unique Montessori style classroom and an Arbor Day Foundation Nature Explore playground. “The Montessori classroom is filled with a pleasant ‘hum’ as the children are working and playing. Each room is filled with concrete materials that teach the children abstract concepts. Children are free to choose anything that is “available” on a shelf and know they can work with it as long as they like. They return it to the shelf when they are done. This environment grows capability, independence and a lifelong love of learning.”
Svenson also shared, “the certified Arbor Day Foundation Nature Explore playground allows the children all the space to collaborate, play, create and build. The free play that happens on our playground is the perfect complement to the Montessori classroom. Concepts of early consent, respectful listening, emotional intelligence and social problem solving allow children to thrive in our environment.”
Maharishi School Children’s House is currently in discussion about a further expansion in the school year 2019-2020, but have not yet galvanized the consideration.
In January 2018, the Jefferson County Child Care Steering Committee, the Fairfield Economic Development Association, and the Iowa/Jefferson/Keokuk Early Childhood Area Board commissioned First Children’s Finance to complete a Child Care Market Analysis to better understand the child care market in Jefferson County. The Child Care Market Analysis showed there are shortages in the number of child care slots for two-year olds, and full-day, full-year preschool for three and four-year olds. Parents that participated in the market study identified a licensed center or registered child care development homes as their most preferred options for providing care to their children.
Tammy Wetjen-Kesterson said, the Iowa Jefferson/Keokuk Board, “is looking forward to continuing to partner with Maharishi School Children’s House to assist them with their expansion. Their expansion to provide quality early education and care to children helps to meet the child care challenges in Fairfield.”
Joshua Laraby, Executive Director for Fairfield Economic Development Association, concluded with, “We see it essential to continue assisting in the facilitation of expanding child care services in the area. Child care services serve as vital infrastructure for growing and retaining our local workforce. Maharishi School Children’s House expanding their services will help address a segment of the gap we are currently experiencing in Jefferson County.”
For more information about services at Maharishi School Children’s School House, contact:
Michelle Svenson, Director
michelleEsvenson@gmail.com
641-472-9400 x5100
