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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Big steps forward for new childcare center

Tower’s planned Little Eagles Childcare hires director, receives grant funds for start-up

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 4/26/17

TOWER— The Tower-Soudan Community Development Corporation (TSCDC) has hired Amy Richter, of Ely, as the director for the Little Eagles Childcare Center, currently scheduled to open in the …

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Big steps forward for new childcare center

Tower’s planned Little Eagles Childcare hires director, receives grant funds for start-up

Posted

TOWER— The Tower-Soudan Community Development Corporation (TSCDC) has hired Amy Richter, of Ely, as the director for the Little Eagles Childcare Center, currently scheduled to open in the Tower-Soudan Elementary School this fall. Her hiring has been made possible thanks to funding from the United Way of Northeastern Minnesota and anticipated additional funds from the Northland Foundation.

The United Way, this week, approved initial funding of $4,250 to allow the TSCDC to hire Richter part-time during the initial start-up phase of the project. Richter, who currently works for the AEOA Head Start program, brings a wealth of experience in education to the position. She served seven years on the Ely School Board and has been an advocate for children and families for years in several different capacities.

Richter will now begin the three-to-five- month process of obtaining a state license for the center and determining all the materials and equipment that the center will require to operate.

Once those needs and associated costs are determined, the United Way and the Northland Foundation have indicated ongoing support to allow for the opening of the center.

The St. Louis County School District is expected to be another major partner on the project. District officials have been highly supportive of the childcare concept and are planning to make space available for the center in the elementary school this year. Final lease arrangements are still pending and will require support from the school board.

But Tower-Soudan school board representative and TSCDC board member Troy Swanson said he’s confident of the school board’s full support. “Everyone has been overwhelmingly positive about the plan,” said Swanson. “We know how badly this is needed and it will help attract new students to the elementary school as well.”

The lack of reliable childcare in the community has been a major issue for some time, and parents at a community meeting last summer had indicated it was one reason they were enrolling their elementary-age children in schools outside the community. Swanson said development of the new childcare facility is designed to address both the critical shortage of childcare as well as the declining enrollment in the elementary.

While the new center will be located within the newly-renovated elementary this year, the center’s longer term goal is to renovate and relocate to a larger, permanent space in the former junior high portion of the school. Those renovations are expected to take a year to complete.

The new Little Eagles Childcare will operate as a non-profit corporation, affiliated with the TSCDC, but will be operated by a separate board. The center should begin advertising for additional staff later this summer. While about a dozen children are already signed up to attend, Swanson said there are still openings and that parents should email him at troyswanson @hotmail.com for an initial signup form.