ELKINS — Susan Jenkins of Elkins has always want to be involved with children and she will be when Happy Feet Child Care Center opens on Monday.
“I love teaching kids and just wanted to do something like this,” Jenkins said. “The welcome mat is out and we’ll be moved into the new building soon.”
Jenkins was manager of Premier Tanning in Fayetteville for four years, giving her additional management experience. She said most of her job experience has been in management, which will help when running a day care business.
“It has been two years in the making,” she said about how long she has worked on the project. She is also taking childhood development courses based out of the University of Arkansas in preparation for opening a day care.
Jenkins said she had come up with the name Happy Feet long ago. “I always said if I opened one up it would be called Happy Feet.”
The 1,200 sq. ft. facility is divided into rooms that are partitioned with half walls and arches. One area will be for a library, one for music, one for art and one for dramatic play.
“Each area will help children develop cognitive learning skills,” she said.
Happy Feet will be open to preschool, toddlers and infants. Jenkins said she already has several children pre-enrolled.
There will be a staff of five including Jenkins. All staff has previous experience working with children and have completed CPR training, she said.
“I want to help children improve coordination, learn complex games and begin to interact morewith others,” Jenkins said. “I want a preschooler to strengthen his of her cognitive skills with plenty of hands on activities. Those are my goals.”
The child care facility is compliant with all Arkansas regulations and is handicapped (ADA) approved, according to Jenkins.
Open house for Happy Feet Child Care Center, will be held from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 6, with refreshments served and a fire truck for the children to enjoy seeing from 10 a.m. until noon.
Her husband John Jenkins, who is the Washington County fire marshal, has made arrangements for the fire truck to be there to entertain the children, Jenkins said.
Opening day for Happy Feet is Monday, Feb. 8, with hours 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. The facility is located at 1238 N. Center, Elkins. For more information call 479-856-8333.
News, Pages 2 on 02/04/2010
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