NEW GLARUS — Small World Childcare Center in New Glarus started out in a small way, offering a three-day-per-week program in the activity room of the New Glarus Home. 

A lot has changed over the last 40 years. As the center grew, it moved to Zwingli Church. Seeing a need for more childcare in the community, Small World’s board of directors and administration decided in 1992 to offer a full-time program, and the center purchased its present location at 107 2nd St.

Today, Small World is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization. It offers a program for children 6 weeks to 4 years at the 2nd Street location. A second location at New Glarus Elementary School serves children ages 4-12, said Executive Director Courtney Zwick. “We partner with the school to provide wraparound care for school-age children. We rent space from them and work to support school and community services.” 

Zwick said the center works with families to make a positive experience for children.

“The old African proverb, ‘It takes a village to raise a child,’ still holds true today, and we believe by forming strong partnerships with families that support their family home values, beliefs, experiences, language acquisition, and community perspectives, it helps to create a solid foundation for your child,” she said.

The non-profit model is also a benefit, she said. “The cooperative input and oversight from the board helps improve every aspect of our program. Because we are non-profit, we are able to keep our rates low and pay our teachers as much as we can,” Zwick said.

Small World would like to add an additional location in the Pecatonica school district to help address a shortage of childcare in that area.

“Our strategic goal is to expand operations into the Pecatonica school district to help support the communities they serve. The district serves multiple rural communities, yet there is no licensed group childcare center to help support them,” Zwick said. “Building a third location to help those communities would help mitigate the childcare desert they are experiencing. If anyone feels they can help us with these efforts, please reach out to us. We are currently working on acquiring funding for building infrastructure through grants.”

Zwick said it can be a common misperception that working in childcare is just babysitting. Another misperception she and her colleagues try to correct is that learning doesn’t really begin until a child reaches school.

“Children’s brains start developing immediately after they are born,” Zwick said. “Caregivers help young minds develop, helping build a road map to success in the child’s mind. The people working in early childcare are not in this field for the money. They are in this field of work because they care about children.”

One positive result of the Covid-19 pandemic is a greater realization of how essential the childcare industry is. But in order for the industry to succeed and grow, it needs community members to help advocate for it.

“This industry needs to be assisted in some way to help the misconception of how important their workers are, and to help improve the benefits and pay rates for everyone in the industry,” Zwick said.