Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/moving-on-up-is-there-a-market-in-the-primary-grades-an-exchange-trend-report/5013008/
"Fifteen years ago, parents started asking me why our center couldn't open a first grade so that their children didn't have to go into public schools. I laughed and told them that, flattered though we might be by their request, we were neither qualified nor interested in running a private school. This was my answer every year until four years ago. Maybe I was in the midst of a mid-life crisis or just looking for a new challenge, but all of a sudden I found myself saying, 'We just might do that.' And we did. Our program now serves children from six months to ten years and it's really working. It's the best decision I ever made." - Midwest center directorI hear this story echoed time and time again as I travel about the country. Child care centers of all types - from local nonprofits to national chains - have in the last five years started to take a serious look at the opportunities in expanding their services into the grades. Child Care Information Exchange has interviewed directors from around the country to weigh some of the pros and cons of expanding into this arena, and to evaluate the challenges that ...