Cradle to Crayons
In 1998, as a high school senior, I started my child care career as an assistant teacher at Cradle to Crayons. After school, days off and summertime, I started testing the waters of working with infants and toddlers. After high school, I left the child care world for college and nighttime retail work.
But the love of working with kids never left my heart. Fast forward 4 years, with a BS in Early Childhood Education and an infant, I went back to work at Cradle to Crayons. Completely unaware that this path would lead to an amazing adventure.
In 2006, I took a leap of faith and bought Cradle to Crayons. The center, located in the quaint Heritage Square, with 4 classrooms and 50 kids, was now in the hands of a 25-year-old single mother with no clue what to do! In the next couple years, Cradle to Crayons grew by reputation and word of mouth. We had grown to 7 classrooms and 90 kids.
In 2014, days before I was due to have my second child, we were notified that Heritage Square would be closing and we had less than a year to be out. Talk about Panic mode! This was not part of the plan. The business was successful and settled. We were happy.
In 2015, we opened a new school in the Applewood area of Golden. A beautiful new (to us) facility with 9 classrooms and 125 kids. We were at capacity within weeks of opening and have stayed a staple of our community.
2020…. while exploring our options to expand our school, offer the dozens of families from our waitlist the care they needed, COVID. What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger. No truer words were ever spoken. March 9, 2020, our enrollment was at full capacity, 125 kids. March 16, 2020, we had 30 kids. It was quiet, eerie, and terrifying. How would we survive a pandemic?? No one knew. No one had answers.
So, we moved forward doing what we do best, caring for the children of our community. We struggled through outbreaks, closures, changing rules, mandates. We hung on. Discouraged at times, hopeful at others. Covid brought out something in our team, a closeness, a comradery, an unwavering loyalty to each other. Those are the things that got us to the place we are in today. It is finally time to expand.
We currently have 125 children enrolled in our center. With a waitlist of 260 children in need of care, we have decided it is time to expand our center. Our community is rapidly growing with young families and as our community grows, it is time for us to grow along with it.
We all know it takes a village to raise children with love and exceptional care. Expanding our center allows us to continue to do that. We see a growing need for quality childcare and know we can meet that need. Our plan is to expand our center to create room for 62 more infants and toddlers and jobs for approximately 15 new staff members.
Cradle to Crayons was created to be a place of family, inclusion, and love. It is our goal that every person who comes through our doors feels welcomed, seen, and appreciated. Our intent is that all staff, children, and parents feel this energy and feel like a part of our family.
Our vision is to provide exceptional childcare to the families in our growing community. Our focus is on teaching our children how to be kind humans, while helping them feel safe and loved in their childcare environment.
Two years ago, we began the mission to accomplish this goal. We set out to lease the empty building space next to us. We didn’t know the challenges and discouragement we would face moving ahead. We had multiple architects come and visit our space and tell us it was impossible to do what we were setting out to do.
So, we took matters into our own hands; as best we could, we drew up our own plans. Not having any background in this area, we researched and measured and studied. We recognized the fact that it would have been easier to give up on the project. After all, the business was successful and settled. We were happy. But giving up wasn’t an option. Our community needs us, as mothers with children of our own, we understand these families need our help.
We know we have a bit of a road ahead financially. Our hope is to find others to partner with us because they see our vision and value in creating a safe place for families in this community. A place they trust that their children are safe, loved and cared for; a place where we can instill a foundation of caring for others and being a kind human being in our children. We believe it takes a village to raise a child, and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. Because it’s just that important.
As a small business, budgeting for a project costing over 1 million dollars our next opportunity. But just like every step of the way, we continue to move forward in finding donors and investors who believe in what we are doing and the value we bring to our community. We are looking for people who can see our vision, trust our hearts, and help make this project a reality for our community.
We are ready. We are staffed. We are strong. We are strong financially and have a winning culture. We are desired in the community. We have a waitlist to fill the school. We will make so many families’ lives easier; their children cared for in the most loving community. We are ready to grow.
Can you see our vision? Will you help?
Courtney Parry
Cradle to Crayons Owner and Director