Hi Tamisha,
I agree with a lot of what was said. I would add:
1) Outdoor accessible bathroom and water fountains right on the playground(s). Ours is on the preschool playground and children can access water and toilet whenever they need to, so you don't have to troop 11 other children in the building to stay in ratio! The bathroom/fountain area is one of the 'zones' the teachers cover during outdoor time to assist when necessary.
2) Classroom outlets placed about 1 foot-18 inches below ceiling height. With well placed shelves or cabinets this is an ideal place to plug in a fan, cd player, modem/router, or other items you don't want children to have access to and you don't have to have cords dangling at ground level either.
3) Also look for Tamper Resistant Outlets. They are specially made so you don't have to fiddle with the little plug in things which invariably get lost or not plugged back in after vacuuming.
4) One-way mirrors in each classroom. We love ours; it makes observation a snap and is particularly helpful for difficult drop-offs, when the parent just needs to separate but can allow a few minutes to watch from outside the room to see that their child has been redirected and is no longer crying before they leave for work. Makes for much happier parents!
5) Secured entries. Something with a keypad entry for all families and staff, separate codes for each individual. Also an emergency panic button for the front desk person.
6) Large area near entry for storing car seats as parents/grandparents/etc move them around between cars or for when you have a school field trip and need car seats dropped off for school transport. A deep hall with deep, tall shelves, should do the trick.
7) Electrical set up for installing building wide intercoms. These should be wired into the walls, so they aren't dependent on batteries. Preferably so each class can call the front office or kitchen, or even each other. Definitely a system that will allow you to do an 'All Call' building-wide in case of emergency, could be for weather emergency, missing child, or secret code for when you have a shooter in the front and you want to indicate to teachers to evacuate.
8) Indoor gross motor areas. One smaller one for toddlers and twos and another larger one for preschoolers. Or one big one that is divided so each area is appropriate for the age group.
9) and I would be remiss if I didn't add the staff napping room, my teachers are always asking for!
So exciting for you! Good luck!
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Amy Gottschamer
Executive Director
Googols of Learning Child Development Center
Lawrence KS
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Original Message:
Sent: 10-05-2019 12:09 PM
From: Tamisha Sewell
Subject: Building a New Center- Building Advice
Good morning! I'm preparing to have a new building built for my daycare, in my area it turned out to be cheaper than buying a building and making necessary updates. So I get to basically make it how I want which is exciting! But it's also almost too much choice lol. So I'm wondering, what are your favorite things about the building you work in? What are problem areas of your building? Any suggestions on unique architectural things I should add? I know one thing I want to do is put little windows down low where kids can look through them and see ther kids in the next room. Thoughts? Thanks!
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Tamisha Sewell
Owner
The Treehouse Early Learning Center
Independence KS
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