Early Childhood Development Center Anticipates Opening
On Friday, April 26, the Early Childhood Development Center (ECDC) held a blessing for its childcare classrooms and offices. Depending on licensing, they will open by June or sooner.
ECDC Director Desiree DeVine said the day began with a prayer. Comanche Nation Princess Bluesky Tosee and Jr. Princess Arlene Schonchin signed the Lord’s Prayer, and the Comanche Academy Brave and Princess sang songs.
“It was great,” she said. “The project is a multi-year project that was funded by the CCDF grant, which is the Child Development Fund Grant, that we get from the government. And so, it was a multi-year project. And it was just finally; it was like a breath of fresh air the day that we had the blessing because it was like, everyone's going to get to see what's been going…on in this building, how the teachers have prepared the classrooms.”
DeVine said the blessing was important to honor the cultural ways, and anyone who wanted to be cedared or blessed could do so by Gene Sovo.
She said the licensing process with the Department of Human Services began in the second week of May and is underway for a grand opening. DeVine said the process can take up to 30 days.
“It doesn't mean it's going to take 30 days, but it takes up to 30 days for them to process our application and give us a permit,” DeVine said. “We will initially open under a permit. And then once our timeframes are over with our permit, then we'll get an official license from the state to be a facility.”
She said they aim to be a 5-star, the top star they can receive, mainly because the kids will be learning while they are at the childcare.
“We are very confident that we're going to be a five-star facility when we open,” DeVine said. “And what that means is that we are the top quality center in our state. And so there are several centers in Lawton that are five-star centers. So, we just want to be on that level because this is a new building. We have quality staff. I have educated staff. I have credentialed staff. So, we want to make sure that we're meeting those needs for our people and giving our people the same kind of quality that other facilities can give them.”
After a long opening process, she said she was at ease because she was only waiting on the license.
“And we'll be able to have the kids. And that is all that we've ever wanted to do was take care of kids the whole time,” DeVine said. “The children, our children are important to us that we that we care for. You know, we miss the smiling faces. We miss the laughter. We miss the noise. We miss everything. And so, being able to hear those kids when this building opens, hopefully within the month…all the noises in the building, you know, this is going to be great.”
And for families awaiting that opening date, she said they have scheduled a two-week orientation.
“It's going to be like coming in, they'll meet and greet the teachers, kind of let the kids come in and kind of see the space so they can kind of get comfortable,” DeVine said. “Because when we did the blessing ceremony, there was so many people here, so we couldn't be intimate and have conversations with families. So, we wanted to schedule time for the families to come in and meet the teachers, go over paperwork, go over documentation that we need from them. There is a lot of documentation that goes into being a five-star center.So, just going through all the…policies, procedures, guidelines, requirements for the classroom, you know, so that the families are aware that whatever's going on, including to go over our curriculum. And so, that they can see that their, you know, their child is in a curriculum setting.”
She said there will also be a natural playground outside for the kids to have class.
“The kids are going to get to experience like a mud kitchen. They're going to experience water and sand play. They're going to experience playing with the dirt, the stuff that we did when we were kids,” DeVine said. “We're getting back to the, to play with nature. There's trees out there. There's plants out there. We have raised garden beds. We're going to grow our own fruit. We're going to grow our own vegetables. The kids are going to have classes from our landscaper, that's doing our back. And he's going to offer classes for the kids to show them how to take care of these plants.”
It will be the second playground of its kind in the state.
