Carol Tabor: Hello and welcome today. I'm Carol Ann Tabor, Director at Children's Discovery Place. Today, we will talk about the benefits and advantages of Children's Discovery Place.

First, let me give you a brief history of Children's Discovery Place. CDP opened in June of 2004. We will be celebrating 20 years this June. It has been Amazing to see the growth and changes over the past 20 years. I had the opportunity to be one of the first employees at Children's Discovery Place. It has been amazing to see all the children grow and learn over the years. In December of 2023, we had the opportunity to hire a teacher that had attended Children's Discovery Place when she was a child.

Children's Discovery Place is licensed by the State of New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department as a five-star center, and we are accredited by the National Association for Education of Young Children. In 2013, we received our first National Association of Education for Young Children accreditation. Since we are NAEYC accredited, our teacher to child ratios are lower than non-accredited centers. The infant ratio is four infants to one teacher. Our toddler room ratio is five toddlers to one teacher. Our two-year-old room is six children to one teacher, and our preschool rooms are 10 children to one teacher.

Children's Discovery Place offers the employees of San Juan Regional Medical Center and Physicians child care. Our ages range from six weeks to five years. Children's Discovery Place has been custom designed to fully meet the child care and educational needs of young children and maximize safety and teacher supervision. Our experienced child development educators have the training to guide and nurture each child.

The infant rooms are soft environments which enable exploration in a stimulating and safe way. Infant and toddler teachers provide nurturing and love as they gently encourage exploration. The preschool programs provide not only nurturing and support, but also an exciting learning environment. Children can discover the world around them by engaging in fun and educational hands-on activities in language, math, science, art, movement, and music. We offer breakfast and snack lunch and p.m. snack. All meals are prepared on site. We follow all nutritional requirements. Meals are served in a family-style dining manner. All teaching staff use a development approved curriculum for that specific age group. We offer a full-time plan that is four to five days a week, part-time plan that is two to three days a week, as well as a drop-in rate.

We currently have openings in our toddler and preschool classrooms. We have a wait list for our infant and two-year-old rooms. Also, the New Mexico Early Childhood Education and Care Department has taken a significant step to support families by waiving all child care assistant co-pays for those who qualify for the program. This means that families whose incomes are at or below 400% of the federal poverty level, which translates to approximately 111,000 per year for a family of four are now eligible for free child care. To see if you're eligible for free child care, you can visit www.momentsnm.org/care.

In October of 2021, we received a grant from the state of New Mexico. This grant allowed us to completely redo and update all playgrounds and repaint the inside of the center. Being just minutes away gives parents a peace of mind. Just the logistics in the morning, everyone getting in the same car and going to the same place just makes it a lot easier. It also gives parents a little more time to spend with their children. Mothers that are breastfeeding love that they can come feed their infants throughout the day. This makes a huge difference when they are infants.

San Juan Regional Medical Center is blessed to have an amazing child care facility for their staff. We are in walking distance to the hospital and have an open door policy. You are welcome to come in at any time and visit your children. For more information on enrollment, please call 609-6659 or come by the center at any time. We are open Monday through Friday from 6:30 a.m to 6:00 p.m. Thank you for your time today.