School, Peterson Farms join forces to open daycare center.

The former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on Oceana Drive will become a child daycare center through a partnership of Peterson Farms, Inc. and Shelby Public Schools.

School, Peterson Farms join forces to open daycare center.

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By Allison Scarbrough, Editor.

SHELBY – The Shelby school district and Peterson Farms, Inc. have joined forces to open a child daycare center in the former Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses on Oceana Drive.

Located just 400 feet north of the Peterson campus, the site is ideal for Oceana County’s largest employer.

With a major daycare shortage in the area, the new facility is welcome news for working parents in the community.

Shelby Public Schools Early Childcare Coordinator Teresa Mead said Shelby is currently at capacity with 82 students enrolled. “We’re full,” Mead said. “We’re turning kids away.”

Both Mead and Peterson Farms Procurement Manager Tracy Blamer said there is a huge need for daycare in Oceana County.

“We’ve been doing a lot of things over the years for employee retention,” Blamer said. “And we can’t ignore what’s missing – daycare.”

Plans are to open the new daycare facility, which can accommodate 50 children, by the beginning of the 2020/2021 school year.

Peterson Farms purchased the 1,900-square-foot building and will fund the renovations to transform it into a daycare center, said Blamer. “We bought it from the hall right away, and they were very excited for us. The building has been beautifully maintained.” Renovations are expected to take just a couple months. Blamer said the building was constructed in the late 1990s.

“It will be so convenient for our employees to stop and see their kids on a lunch break,” she said.

The facility will serve children from infants to 4 years of age with some before- and after-school children up to age 12, said Mead.

Plans are to add an outdoor green space behind the building with fruit trees and a vegetable garden in keeping with Peterson Farms’ agriculture theme. It will serve as a “natural playground landscape,” said Mead.

Food at the center will be provided by the school’s food service program, said Superintendent Tim Reeves. The school has a van, which transports hot meals from the main campus to other sites, such as the New Era Elementary School, New Era Christian School, Thomas Read Elementary and the Ladder Community Center, Reeves said.

Although there are in-home daycare providers, both Blamer and Mead said they are aware of only one child daycare center in Oceana County located in Hart.

Mead stressed the importance of structured learning environments for children at an early age. “Tons of research show that it helps the future learner. Everything is done through play, but there are curriculums that the classrooms follow.” Social interaction is key for teaching young children, she said. “It prepares them for kindergarten and beyond.”

“It’s a big win for the whole community,” said Reeves. “It’s the perfect opportunity for the two entities to come together.”

In addition to tackling the daycare shortage in Oceana County, Peterson Farms is also combatting Oceana’s rental housing shortage. The company, which employs 750 full-time workers, provides low-cost housing for its employees after recently building 56 two-bedroom apartments. The $300-per-month rent includes utilities, said Chief Operating Officer Richard Rafaelli.

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