Daycare center has new facilities

The Cannon Air Force Base Child Development Center is now housed in a brand new larger facility to accommodate the needs of more military families.

The groundbreaking for construction began June 10, 2010, and the facility was opened on Nov. 7.

Director of the daycare center, Kathy Morgan, said the facility was a need for military families at Cannon on the waiting list and the new facility has allowed them to serve more families.

"We only had room for 79 children in our old building and now we have the capacity for 158," Morgan said. "We have cleared our waiting list, the list was up to 200 children. We still have infants on our list but we pretty much cleared all of the other age groups."

In addition to helping families, the new facility has also helped increase employment on base now with a staff of 42. Priority went to military spouses and veterans for the new positions and overall the center has been great for the community according to Morgan.

The building's construction had a total project area of 23,304 square feet. The cost of the project was close to $8 billion.

Morgan said the state-of-the art building houses 12 classrooms with new dry storage closets, a large kitchen with walk-in freezers and refrigerators, a staff lounge, a training room with a full-time trainer, new computers, and a parent resource room.

By the summer, Morgan says the construction of the outdoor playgrounds should be complete.

The food program is very nutritious according to Morgan. The formula used for infants is approved by a dietitian and the breakfast, lunch, and snack provided are healthy.

The classrooms have automatic sinks so that kids don't have to touch the faucet and this was added to prevent the spreading of germs.

According to Morgan, the parent resource room is stocked with tons of resources for parents including information about health and wellness, development, how to deal with death of a loved one or a pet, and tons of other topics. Parents can also check out books, DVDs, CDs, and games for their family.

The curriculum provided in the classroom is a creative curriculum with a play-based child initiative and is an accredited program by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

The center cares for children from six-weeks to five-years of age and the cost is on a sliding fee scale based on total family income.

In addition to military personnel, the center is open to Department of Defense civilians and contractors.

Military families benefit from the center being right here on base," Morgan said. "They can be assured they will get affordable quality care. We constantly serve our military personnel."