Treehouse Learning Center takes high-tech approach

by Melissa Wilson

SBJ Staff

A treehouse is being built in south Springfield, but it will consist of more than a few pieces of plywood and a tarp.

The Treehouse Learning Center, a $1.8 million, 15,000-square-foot learning center that will accommodate just under 300 children from infants to 12-year-olds, broke ground at 1525 E. Bradford Pkwy. June 18 and is set to be complete by November.

Funding for the project is being provided by a private investor. Administrator Linda Vance declined to name the investor because ownership of the center will change after it opens.

The ground breaking was the culmination of two years of research by Vance, whose employment background includes running her grandfather's floral business in St. Louis, designing clothing and a corporate position with the Spiegel catalog.

"I toured every learning center in St. Louis and Kansas City, some of them more than once, and I've spoken with dozens of parents, teachers and learning center administrators to get ideas and compare numbers with other centers of this size," Vance said. "Many of the people I've spoken with about the center have been so helpful because they have kids themselves, and really want to see something like this in Springfield."

The birth of her daughter four years ago and overcoming a potentially life-threatening illness served as catalysts for Vance's idea for a high-tech, upscale learning center.

"I don't like the words 'day care.' What we want to provide is so much more than that," Vance said.

Vance said the first TLC enrollee signed up a few days ago, and she intends to meet every parent whose child enrolls.

"We're going to take pictures of the families and have a wall where we put them all up. It's important for us to meet every parent because, in a way, we're going to be a big family," Vance said.

Parents can enroll their children at TLC full-time, part-time, or in the summer. Vance said TLC rates will be $120 to $150 per week for children enrolled full-time, but there will also be before- and after-school, and summer rates, as well. The center will be open 7 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Vance credits Greg Matlock, of Carleton Building Co., Busch Design Group and The Design Agency with the European castle design concept for the learning center, which will also feature a large garden, an 18,000-square-foot playground with equipment designed specifically for the facility, a working child-size kitchen, and a computer-aided learning facility that will be open for both enrolled and non-enrolled children to use with their parents.

"We want this to be a learning center for everyone, which is why we're also going to allow parents whose kids don't attend TLC to come to the center and use the computers with the 'Be Smart Kids' curriculum," Vance said.

Be Smart Kids, which Vance said she researched for possible use at TLC after she read about it in USA Today, has been proven to have positive effects on children with Attention Deficit-Hyperactive Disorder and even autism, according to Vance. A TLC press release also stated children who have worked with Be Smart Kids regularly test a year ahead of their peers.

"After I learned more about the Be Smart Kids program, I knew I wanted it for the center. We're actually going to be one of the first learning centers in the country to provide this curriculum," Vance said.

Other curriculum at TLC will be based on the European Reggio model that addresses the whole child through the teaching of social skills and moral values, as well as perception and intellectual skills.

Vance has already hired a director, an assistant director, a registered nurse and several instructors for the center, and she said her goal in staffing the facility is to conquer the turnover rate experienced by most day-care providers by offering better pay and benefits.

Because of this, she requires TLC instructors to have bachelor's degrees in early childhood development or elementary education, depending on the class age.

"We want to keep people employed with us for a long time. We also want to mix age groups by bringing senior citizens into our center eventually," Vance said.

Another feature at the Treehouse Learning Center will be security cameras which allow parents to access video images of their children over the Internet. Access is exclusively through an individual security code. Vance stresses how important it is for parents to know that images of their child cannot be seen without the individual code.

"If there's ever a question about anything that has occurred at the center, we'll have video of it. This system will keep everyone accountable, as well as be a nice feature for parents to be able to check on their child throughout the day," Vance said. "A phone call is just not the same as actually being able to see your child playing or taking a nap with your own two eyes."

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