“Snow day:” perhaps two of the most highly anticipated words ever heard for many area children. But the cancellation of school can create a number of concerns for parents, especially when it comes to providing supervision for children who can’t stay at home alone.
Some turn to relatives or friends or have older siblings care for their younger brothers and sisters. That works in some situations but if those individuals have commitments parents are forced to look for other solutions. At times, they may seek out daycare providers to meet their supervision needs.
With a shortage of daycare facilities available, many are booked to capacity, making it impossible to take in more children even for a day.
“In recent years the Little Village has closed not to mention Melita Day and Minola,” said Rachel Keele, owner and director of the Katy Trail Children’s Center on Matthew Drive. “Those three closures have had an effect on the community.”
Keele, who has owned the business for 13 years, said her facility is at capacity, serving 46 children from birth to age 6. With strict state regulations on the number of staff to child ratios, Keele cannot take any additional children for a number of reasons and not just on snow days.
“We really don’t take any additional children on snow days because our license only goes up to 6 years old,” Keele explained. “I imagine that some of the facilities that do before and after school daycare might have some more students on snow days, but we simply can’t.”
Ironically, Keele noted that often on snow days her facility sees a drop in the number of children who attend. According to Keele, Thursday’s attendance was at less than 50 percent of her total.
Keele makes sure to have a number of special activities including indoor obstacle courses, races and dance parties planned for the children on days when the forecast is less than favorable for outdoor play.
“When we had all of the snow a few weeks ago we brought the snow inside for the children to play with — some of our kids don’t have the chance to play outside in the snow,” Keele explained. “We also put some toys in containers and filled them with water.
“We took the containers outside and had them guess how long they thought it would take to freeze the water,” she continued. “Then when brought them inside and put them in the water table and tried to think of ways we could get it to melt.”
Finding creative ways and interacting with the children are among the best parts of Keele’s day.
“I really think the best part of the job is all of the kids that I have seen grow up,” Keele said. “I feel that I have seen them age but I don’t feel that I have.”