Child Care and Learning Center celebrates 30 years with its annual fund-raising auction Nov. 10
By Alex Sharp VIII
For 30 years now, the Child Care and Learning Center (CCLC) has acted as Rappahannock County’s only permanent childcare facility. Since its formation in 1976, CCLC has provided the community with high-quality, affordable daycare, preschool, Head Start, and after school programs.
CCLC allows for low tuition through active fund raising by the “Friends of CCLC” - namely with revenue generated by the Center’s annual Fall Auction that will take place at the Washington School on November 10.
Debbie Donehey, the “Friends of CCLC” chairman, outlined the motive behind this much-anticipated social event. “The key to the auction is making CCLC affordable to families that really, in general, wouldn’t be able to afford daycare at such a high quality,”she said.
CCLC is fully accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children - the only preschool in our ten county region to hold such recognition. This accreditation recognizes the Center as one of the best childhood programs in the nation.
The Child Care and Learning Center has evolved since 1976, when the school was located in the basement of what is now Doug Baumgardner’s office in Little Washington. The nonprofit conducted operations in an old farmhouse down Tiger Valley Road from 1978 until 1986, when the Center moved to its present location just outside of Little Washington.
Barbara Coffey, a CCLC staff member since 1983, has fond memories of the old farmhouse. “I remember an old black snake that lived behind the schoolhouse. Diana Bird used to set an egg on the limb of a huge tree out back and we’d all wait for him to come out and get it. Those were different times then.”
Nancy Atkins started at CCLC in 1986, shortly after the daycare center’s relocation.
“Back then it wasn’t as organized,” she said. “When I came, I actually came in and the director then didn’t tell me what to do - just kinda put me in the two’s room and that was that.”
Since her first day at CCLC more than 21 years ago, Atkins has witnessed a number of significant changes within the organization.
“I think (CCLC) has improved 100% since I started,” she said. “We’re more organized. There’s more space; the space is better used. And we actually have heat and AC!”
Kim Goodwin, CCLC’s office manager and head of the Afterschool Club, has also witnessed major improvements during her 19 years as part of the nonprofit.
“The whole atmosphere has changed,” she said. “Before, this was strictly a daycare center: you dropped your kids off; you picked them up. Now, when parents come in, they feel more welcome than they did 19 years ago. We try to have an open relationship with the families. CCLC is a family atmosphere.”
The Child Care and Learning Center played an active role in the development of Goodwin’s family. Her daughter Renee attended CCLC from toddlerhood to adolescence. Now Renee has two children enrolled at the Center.
“I can remember years ago putting babies to sleep when they were tiny,” Kim Goodwin said. “Then to see those very same babies going off to college and growing into successful young men and women really makes my job a blessing. We got to be a big part of their lives - it’s very rewarding.”
“A lot of us have touched a lot of lives,” said Arlene Frye, a daycare professional at CCLC from 1980-2005. CCLC “has been a Godsend to the community. I know it kept me going for 25 years. I don’t think the community could do without it.”
“We don’t just grow children here,” said Rose Ann Sharp, the executive director of CCLC for the past 19 years. “We also grow adults. Over the years, my staff has become more qualified - many are taking classes at local colleges; a number have earned college degrees. I’m very proud and fortunate to work with the staff that I have.”
Our small community sincerely thanks the Child Care and Learning Center and its highly qualified staff for 30 years of excellence. Countless families are indebted to this nonprofit for navigating their children through the vital transition from infancy to childhood to adolescence.
What better way to honor CCLC and all it’s done for the community than to attend its annual Fall Auction on November 10? Doors to the Washington School open at 5:30 p.m. and the live auction begins at 7:00 p.m. So come on out and enjoy a night of good food, good drink, good people, and good furniture!
-- Alex Sharp VIII
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