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Child Care Connections names providers of the year

Star - 5/13/2021

May 13—Local child care providers were recognized this week for their hard work over the last year. Child Care Connections recognized It Takes a Village child care center in Kings Mountain and Karen Bradley's Home Day Care as the child care providers of the year.

"Our providers are rated by the state based on their level of training, star ratings and experience," said Shermunda Lawrence, director of provider services at Child Care Connections.

Child Care Connections provides training and other resources to day cares and child services across Cleveland County. Every year it picks one center and one home provider to be its providers of the year.

"I don't believe I'm any more worthy than anyone else. We all do so much and we all work so hard, especially with the pandemic," said Karen Bradley, who runs her day care out of her home.

For more than 30 years Bradley has been providing kids in the Boiling Springs area a safe place to play and learn while their parents attend work or school during the day. Her business got its start when she still had children of her own.

"I had such separation anxiety with my son after he was born. I would cry when I left him. I'd cry when I brought him home because I knew I'd have to leave him again the next day," she said. "So I made a deal with my husband. if I took care of everything around the house so that when he came home from work so that he could spend time with us, I could stay home with him."

After she became a stay-at-home parent, Bradley said she was asked to watch the son of a friend for two weeks, then another and another after that. Before she knew it, she was her own day care operation. She even returned to school to get the proper degree and licenses to operate.

While at her day care, children have access to their own play room with reinforced glass windows on all sides for extra sunlight, as well as a sand lot with playground equipment. They get home-cooked breakfast and lunch and some even learn basic sign language from Bradley.

"When they are here they are my family. I treat them as my own," she said.

First opened in 1998, It Takes a Village has worked hard over the years to become a central part of its community in Kings Mountain.

"We are only as successful if the community is. We have good support from the city, especially during the last year," said Robin Smith, executive director of the daycare center.

It Takes a Village works with a range of children from as young as six weeks old to as old as 12.

The day care is considered a five-star day care by the state Department of Health and Human Services, and has been for several years.

"We have always pushed to be the best, whatever Health and Human Services childcare and human development mandates as high quality, we attain that level," said Smith. "I aspire to hire the best teachers and retain them. We pay them what they are worth, what we see as their value."

The center currently has 45 children enrolled in its programs but that number could soon rise. It Takes a Village has applied to enter into a federal early head start program that would allow them to provide pre-kindergarten programs for infants through three years old.

The center is also currently looking to expand its hours of operation once the new casino is built and open in the city. Smith said she expects an increased need for child care services as people go to work for the 24-hour facility.

Dustin George can be reached at 704-669-3337 or Dustin.George@ShelbyStar.com. Find him on Twitter @DustinLGeorge.

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