New Day Care and Preschool Planned for Townsend
 | Author:
Nancy Marks, Reporter
Nancy Marks: MT43 News Secretary and News Editor |
New Day Care and Preschool Planned for Townsend
Nancy Marks
Reporter
Amanda Hazlett, owner of Pathfinder Preschool and Day Care, will be opening a second location in the Power Townsend Building. It will be named The Preschool on Broadway. “There is a terrific need for daycare in the community,” she said, “Somewhere around only 20 percent of children less than school age in Broadwater County are in licensed daycare centers.”
According to an October 7 article by Associated Press writer Leah Willingham, millions of American children and their families are now at risk or losing childcare after two years of COVID subsidies from the government which ended in September of this year. Government data taken during a survey by a Washington, D.C. think tank, the Century Foundation, showed in five states including Montana up to half of all providers may be forced to close. Broadwater County currently has only two certified daycare centers besides the Head Start program, according to MSU Extension Agent Allison Kosto. Two other licensed providers in the county have closed this year. “The other really important note related to these providers is that we do not have any childcare providers that will take infants (children under age 2,)” she wrote in an email.
Hazlett, a certified and licensed teacher and daycare provider, is working with Zero-to-Five Montana and Montana Child Care Business Connect (MCCBC). The nonprofit organizations are working to obtain grants and other funds to jumpstart licensed daycare centers in the state, according to Rhonde Schwenke program director for Zero To Five Montana. The program helps build business models to train new childcare providers in business education. In an email Schwenke said “We currently have a Broadwater County participant in our 2nd community cohort, MSU Extension, Broadwater County.”
In an article in last week’s issue of MT 43 News, Kosto praised the newly formed childcare capacity-building program. The program is free to all community members to learn about increasing or improving licensed/registered daycare in Broadwater County. The six-month program is paid for through American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds.
Hazlett has operated Pathfinder Preschool for five years at The Lodge, 131 Spruce Street in Townsend. She operates the business with two employees and herself who cover different times of each day. The Preschool on Broadway will have spots for 20 children, ages 3 to 5 years, but has not started taking reservations yet. The new center is still under construction so she is hoping it will be open in January 2024. “We still have inspections to meet before we can be licensed by the State of Montana.”
Hazlett and her employees are required to take 16 hours a year of childhood education classes to remain certified by the State Department of Health and Human Services (DPHHS). Additionally, there are all sorts of rules about keeping records, proper light switches, first aid kits on hand as well as an emergency supply of food.
The new childcare center will be play-based and exploratory for the kids, she explained. “With guidance from our two workers and myself, the kids will learn what they want, then have snacks and lunch. We’ll have music and naptime. It will be a welcoming place for kids.” she said.
Hazlett,38, lives in Townsend with her husband Dan and three girls ages 10, 7 and 3. She said, “People can reach me at my email -amandahazlett@icloud.com “.
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PhotoCredit: Photo Credits: Amanda Hazlett
Image 1 Caption: Amanda Hazlett
Photo Credits: Amanda Hazlett
Image 2 Caption: Clipart
