New early learning center to show 'what's possible' in childcare from this Petoskey campus

What’s happening: Community and project stakeholders gathered at the Petoskey campus of North Central Michigan College on Tuesday, Aug. 19, where officials hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the school’s new Reggio Emilia-inspired Early Learning Center. The new facility opens as part of Phase II in NCMC’s Child Care Initiative, which seeks to establish a more viable and sustainable child care system in the region.

What it is: The NCMC Early Learning Center will serve infants, toddlers, and young preschoolers, providing Reggio Emilia-inspired early learning and child care services by way of play, exploration, and nature-based learning activities. Touted as a state-of-the-art facility, the Early Learning Center counts new learning spaces and an outdoor nature-inspired playground among its features.

What it does: The NCMC Child Care Initiative has designed the Early Learning Center to address local child care shortages both from the bottom-up and the top-down. Launched in 2022, the CCI intends to develop child care strategies that support families and strengthen the local economy at the same time. In this instance, the Early Learning Center will operate as a pilot program that utilizes a true-cost fiscal model designed to provide high-quality care at affordable rates while introducing a living wage salary scale for child care professionals.

Why it’s important: "We believe this center can serve as a demonstration site for what’s possible when a community chooses to invest in its children and its caregivers," says Jennifer Wixson, NCMC’s Early Childhood Education program coordinator. "We hope it inspires others to join us in building a system where every family has access to the highest quality care, and every educator is supported with dignity, compensation, and professional respect."

What’s next: Full enrollment for the NCMC Early Learning Center is expected to be reached by October. More information, including a waitlist for families, is available online.