Today we’d like to introduce you to Ann M. Rhey.
Ann, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I spent my teen years volunteering and later, working at a child care center my mother directed. It was located inside a nursing home, where the little children mingled and shared life with the seniors. After I graduated from high school and began college, my mother found herself at a crossroads in her career. In 1990, she asked me if I would help her to start her own center. I agreed and she worked in the office, doing the business plan – I worked in the classrooms and developed the staff program and curriculum. We grew the center from an enrollment of 65 children and 12 teachers – to an enrollment of 110 kids and 25 teachers, caring for children ages newborn through 4k and also a strong school age before and after the program (including Summer Camp Care).
Ten years later, we had the opportunity to design and build our current center. We moved, just down the road to our new home, with our child care families supporting and following us. Our new home was right in the middle of a commercial development and we filled to capacity quickly. We added on, just four years after opening and now have an enrollment capacity of 226 children and a staff of 47 teachers.
I think the thing that makes us special and unique is that we strive to keep that “home to school” feeling. Our name, Extended Love Child Development Center… really drives home our message. “An extension of love, from home to school.” Our logo is the world, with a home and a school, connected by a heart.
We understand how important it is, for families to feel comfortable and confident in the place that is caring for their children while they are away. Trust is something that can not be manufactured. Trust is something that does not come easy. Our staff and our clients get to know each other through daily face-to-face communication. We have family events throughout the year, to bridge the relationships between home, family, and community.
I am so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with my mother from 1990 to 2004. I have carried on the tradition of Extended Love, with the help of a supporting staff. I am even blessed enough to now have my daughter working with me at Extended Love.
We are moving into our twenty-eighth year. The world has changed a million times over, in the past 27 years. We have rolled along, bending and flexing with the times; but one thing remains constant. Our love for the families of Extended Love CDC and our commitment to excellence. The care we provide is creative, innovative and personal to each family’s needs.
I am so blessed and proud to have worked and lived this life for the past 28 years and look forward to what the future has in store for me.
Has it been a smooth road?
No road is smooth. This “for profit” industry is difficult. Child Care Quality remains the focus in legislation. Better educated caregivers will make for more successful children in their educational experience and also raise self-esteem and understanding of their place in the community. But, with higher education is a demand for higher wages. When child care staff are expected through strict rating systems to provide best practices, more continuing education, and a higher education early childhood, they expect to be paid accordingly.
This field is in a major crisis. As the report: www: http://cscce.berkeley.edu/files/2016/Early-Childhood-Workforce-Index-2016.pd, clearly shows, the gap between wages in early childhood and other educators is growing.
We can not continue to pay our staff poverty wages, without support in legislation. Either private pay families will go broke paying for care or a center must look for money through a large enrollment of child care subsidized families. Incentives for teachers to continue their education are weak and most centers can not offer benefits for teachers – so why would someone with an advance degree choose this field. The hourly wages for ECE are between $9.50 – 13.00 per hour.
This, by far, is the biggest obstacle we face.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Extended Love Child Development Center – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
We care for children ages 6 weeks through school age. We really focus on really personal service. Infant care is a group setting, but parent’s instructions and direction are followed as closely as possible. Excellent communication skills are mandatory for all teachers. Face-to-face, written and journaling is done many times throughout the day, to keep parents in the loop and build trust between caregiver and client.
Toddlers are given the freedom to explore in clean, safe large rooms. They have an appropriate balance of structure and play. They get dirty, they sing, they march, the express their needs and they begin the social process of becoming part of a larger group.
Preschoolers are challenged through play, themes, large motor and small motor activities. Our curriculum is a traditional approach with a balance of free choice and structure. Teachers plans are child-driven interests, and they plan and assess the children to prepare them for the next stage of their education.
School-age kids are kept busy with relaxing after school activities. They have time to play outside on our very large playground, they can do their homework and they can do arts and crafts. Summer field trips, outside play, science and themes for elementary education keep them challenged and busy!
Are there any apps, books, podcasts or other resources that you’ve benefited from using?
I try to find a balance between work and home. At work, I try to stay current on trends, continue my own education in the field, and attend training and conferences.
At home, I relax with my “empty-nester husband” and we ride his HD Motorcycle with friends, exploring the country.
Contact Info:
- Address: 9191 – 80th Street
Pleasant Prairie, WI 53158 - Website: www.extendedlovechildcare.com
- Phone: 262-697-9341
- Email: director@elovecc.com
- Instagram: none
- Facebook: Extended Love Child Care
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfebOfdfTrw
Image Credit:
Ann Rhey, Jake Svoboda, Clayton Aldrich, Nathaniel Ade, Connor Goss, Ms. Ann, Ms. Britney Kramer and Chase Manske
Getting in touch: VoyageChicago is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
