History
Kiddie
Kollege was built in 1996 by Dr. Jill Andrews. In Fairfield, IL, in
1996 there were very few childcare providers. Businesses lost employee
prospects due to the lack of high quality childcare, and the local
community college had a need for childcare to serve their student
population. Dr. Andrews was asked to Chair a committee comprised of
area business leaders, public education administrators, parents and
community college leaders. The mission of that committee was to
investigate the possibility of developing a high quality early
childhood facility for the children of Wayne County. After two years of
researching the early childhood field, Dr. Andrews became so dedicated
to the mission that she left her position of Director of Adult
Education and Family Literacy at Frontier Community College, and
constructed Kiddie Kollege of Fairfield. Originally, Kiddie Kollege had
a FTE of 96. Then, in 1998 the facility doubled in size to 12000 square
feet and increasing its FTE to 181.
Kiddie Kollege
is located adjacent to the Frontier Community College campus on the
West side of Fairfield, Illinois. It is licensed by The Department of
Children and Family Service . In 2000, Kiddie Kollege received the
"Spotlight on Partnership Award. This award was a result of a
partnership between Wabash Area Development, Inc.'s Headstart program
and Kiddie Kollege. In July of 2005, Kiddie Kollege, in partnership
with Fairfield Elementary School District #112, was awarded an ISBE
Prevention Initiative grant. In 2003, Kiddie Kollege was one of eight
early childhood centers in the state of Illinois to be awarded an
Illinois State Board of Education Pre-Kindergarten program. This
program serves forty three to five year olds. Both full-time and
part-time children are accepted in the child care program. In
September, 2009, Kiddie Kollege was reaccredited by NECPA.
On October
2006, Kiddie Kollege was awarded an ISBE prekindergarten grant which
became the foundation for development of the Wayne City Early Learning
Center, located at 702 West Smith Street in Wayne City, IL. This center
opened serving 20 prekindergarten students, then, in April, 2007
wraparound care for children ages birth to twelve was added. In August
of 2009 another 20 ISBE prek slots were added. This center can serve 65
children at full capacity. WCELC was NECPA accredited in
September, 2009.
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