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Ground Level - Holy Trinity Early Education Center
Mary Kay Scanlon, Program Director Cindy Blake, Assistant Director
Holy Trinity Children’ Center is licensed by the State of Kansas and is nationally accredited for excellence by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) It is one of only two centers within the Archdiocese of Northeast Kansas to earn this distinction.
HTCC began operation in 1976 with 2 employees and 8 children in its current location - the former apartment/classroom building at 13520 W 92nd Street. Today, the center serves the early educational/ childcare needs of over 225 children in our parish community with a professional staff of 23 full and part-time teachers and staff members. Since the center opened our parish has quadrupled in size.
The new Children’s Center’s design is based on the number of children currently enrolled in our existing programs along with additional space for growth as well as two new programs that have been highly requested by our parishioners and community. Based on interviews with the staff, the new center will meet the following needs:
As required by building code, all classrooms, play areas, and support space will be on a single ground floor to serve the early education program for children ages 2 years through twelve years of age, resulting in a better operational and safeer design. The total plan area of 20,000 sq ft is the same square footage as the preliminary plan which was split between a ground and second level and would not have met code and created various program and operational challenges.
Should our program needs change in the future , the east section of the new facility has been designed to accommodate children as young as six months of age.
General Features A centralized reception and office area for visitors and child drop off and pick-up, features secured access control into the Children’s Center. Each classroom will have restrooms, sink, a small food prep area, and custom cabinetry and storage areas. All classrooms will have direct access to a secured, outside play garden. The toddler classroom (21/2 to 3 year old) will have a dedicated, outside fenced play area.
Indoor Recreation Room A recreation area (1,600 sq ft) will serve as a play space for inclement weather days and will allow the Children’s Center to develop movement and music programs. The room will also be used for special parent meetings, holiday programs and other fun family events. It will be an ideal space for special classroom projects and extra space for expansion of the school age program. A large storage closet and slightly raised “stage” will be located in this area.
Food Service As recommended by NAEYC, the new center design will allow the children enrolled in full day programs to t family style meals in their classrooms. Meals will be prepared by the school in the main cafeteria during the school year. The project includes a warming kitchen for final assembly of lunches. The Kitchen will also allow the teachers the opportunity to continue planning baking projects including. Special events like Muffins with Mom and Donuts with Dad’s will be much easier to implement with this well equipped kitchen..
Classrooms The classrooms will all be on grade level and will have windows at the door to each room for staff and parent visibility. Teachers will have a work station with a computer.. Lesson planning will be done in the teacher lounge or workroom. The flooring in each room is planned to be 1/3 tile, and 2/3 carpet. Classrooms include a table on the tile area for lunch and snack-time. Each room will have built-in storage cabinets for supplies, materials and student items. Classrooms will share a restroom facility between 2 adjacent rooms. The 2 ½ yr old and mother’s day classrooms will include diapering stations. Drinking water will be from a child friendly sink in each classroom. All classroom will have access directly to playground..
Administration Area The administration area will have a security entrance. Provisions will be included for a full time receptionist to control parent and visitor access to the building. An additional workspace near the receptionist has been included for a parent volunteer. The administration area will include staff mailboxes and a time card station. The area will also include a nurse’s area which is monitored can be receptionist.
One office will be shared between the Director and the Assistant Director. The office will include two workstations with landscape partitions between. The Assistant director’s office will be situated to allow monitoring of the reception area for parents and visitors.
Waiting/Library Area The entrance to the building will have a dedicated area for parents to gather and have ----visit while waiting to pick up preschoolers. The area will include a small play spaceto keep younger siblings occupied as well. Directly adjacent to the waiting area will be a parent library. This room can be used for resources and will include book shelves and a table for two to three people to sit. The library can be used for a small meeting room or for confidential conversations.
Teacher Lounge A teacher’s lounge will be provided for breaks and writing lesson plans. Teacher resources and two to three computers and phones will be available for staff.
Staff Workroom An adjacent workroom will give the staff an area for shared equipment and supplies. The space will have ample seating and space for staff meetings and training..
Laundry A Laundry area will be located near the kitchen for weekly cleaning of cot sheets and daily kitchen laundry.
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