Our History

Our History

We began as an off-shoot of Community Action to fill the need for child care in Jackson.  We were initially incorporated under the name 'Milton Day Care Center' and the program was housed in the old Milton School, located just off SR 32 near Wellston.

Our name was later changed to 'Child Development Center of Jackson County' to better describe our purpose as a child care program with an educational componant. We moved into a new facility on E. Broadway Street in 1976, and eventually started a smaller second facility on Burlington Road where additional children could be served.   

After much planning, fundraising and assistance from USDA RD and other State, Federal and local agencies, we were able to begin construction of a new, much larger state-of-the-art childcare facility on Pattonsville Road in the fall of 2006.  Our goal finally became a reality when we opened the current facility on August 13, 2007!

Services Provided

We provide many low-income families with child care so parents can work or attend training, thus offer rates that are lower than most programs. We are committed to helping those in need and desire to continue to promote healthy children and families by providing nutritious meals, health and nutrition education, and daily physical activities for all children regardless of their age, ability, race, family income.

We believe in starting at a young age to build healthy minds and bodies, with this in mind we provide all children enrolled with two meals daily (breakfast and lunch), plus an afternoon snack. For many of our children these are the only nutritional meals they receive daily. Each meal meets one third (1/3) of their daily nutritional requirement based on UDSA Child and Adult Care Food Program guidelines, and meals for our infants include iron fortified infant formula and cereal. We are currently the only provider in the county that provides these meals.

We provide services that exceed state requirements; have a prescribed individualized curriculum for all ages served; have educated, well trained and experienced staff members who continue to receive specialized training annually; we provide free social/emotional and development screenings, and offer hearing and vision screenings for young children ; we also provide health insurance for employees as well as vacation and holiday pay; and participate in the TEACH Program, which offers scholarships to staff members who desire to further their Early Childhood Education.

We offer:

• Quality child care Monday - Friday   (6 a.m. - 6 p.m.) Year-round

• Full-time and part-time child care services with an educational component that is age appropriate. Our curriculum is designed around Ohio's Early Learning & Development Standards.

• A structured Pre-Kindergarten program that helps prepare your child for Kindergarten.

• We offer limited care for schoolage children that have younger siblings enrolled.

• Breakfast, Lunch & afternoon snack daily.

• Large, fenced and separated outdoor play areas.

• Classroom computers in our Preschool, Pre-K and Schoolage rooms. 

Our Employees

Employees play an important role in any business and we believe this is especially true in the child care business. All our staff members are required to attend and maintain updated training in Early Childhood Education as well as in: First Aid; CPR; Recognition & Management of Communicable Disease; Child Abuse & Neglect Recognition, Reporting & Prevention; Proper hand-washing techniques; USDA food program policies and procedures; and State of Ohio Child Care Licensing policies and procedures. As a Star Rated Program our staff also attend a minimum of 10 additional hours yearly in specialized Early Childhood Education training.  

Prior to employment, prospective employees must: provide references; be fingerprinted and pass a State and Federal record check; pass a physical; agree to abide by our drug testing and other personnel policies; complete mandatory orientation; and complete a 3 month probationary period where they are evaluated for suitability as quality child care providers. Current employees are required to pass State BCII fingerprint checks every four years and sign a non-conviction statement annually.

We expect every employee to know and faithfully follow all policies and procedures.  The health, safety and well-being of each child enrolled is our main priority.  Please feel free to ask questions about anything you don't understand. We are always willing to listen and respond to your questions or concerns.