SPRINGFIELD – Despite the gallons of annual rain in Lane County, it is considered a desert — a childcare desert. According to research conducted in 2022 by Oregon’s Early Learning Division, almost every county is regarded as a childcare desert for children ages 0-2.
Lane County does a bit better than most counties in terms of childcare spots for 3-5-year-olds but still barely reaches the halfway mark. Tillamook County has the lowest percentage of children ages 0-5 with access to childcare at 13% of and Hood River County has the highest at 40%.
To be considered “not a desert,” there must be available childcare spots for 33%- 50% of the children in that age group, which is where Lane County sits as of 2022.
As of right now, the county has 30.0% of children between the ages of 0 and 5 have access to childcare, so when 60 more affordable spots open up, it is something to celebrate.
On Nov. 21, Willamalane hosted an opening celebration for their new preschool facility Tiny Ducks Preschool at the Bob Keefer Center in Springfield.
“To be able to sit here … and be able to provide much-needed child care and a new playground for our community, it just absolutely puts the wind underneath my wings,” said Michael Wargo, Willamalane executive director.
The preschool previously served 20 students in the community and now has 80 available full-time spots.
“Coming out of COVID, there was a lot of need for child care in this county, and there really were not a lot of increased opportunities,” Wargo said.
Eventually, conversations took place between University of Oregon staff and Willamalane at a Springfield Chamber of Commerce meeting to develop the idea of Willamalane providing more spots.
The UO decided to invest $500,000 in the project, which allowed Willamalane to completely renovate two new classroom facilities.
“I think originally they were going to divvy this money up to other organizations,” Wargo said. He credits the expeditious way his company wrote up plans and developed ideas for why UO made the investment into Willamalane.
“There was a lot of what we call ‘flex space,’ but it was really underutilized space that was behind the existing preschool,” Wargo said.
Over 18 months, Willamalane, with the help of Chambers Construction, made their renovations and even added a revamped playground funded by the community.
“This is so important for young people at that stage of their development to be able to get some structure, and do some conflict resolution,” Wargo said.
Wargo and Dylan Fitzpatrick, early childhood programs supervisor, agree that Tiny Ducks Preschool works closely with Springfield Public Schools to ensure that their students are prepared to enter kindergarten.
“All the teachers are very familiar with what the minimum standards are for that, for entering kindergarten,” Fitzpatrick said, “So our goal is, regardless of how they start with us, our goal is to get them ready for kindergarten.”
He also clarifies that it is not a daycare.
“We’ve had parents come through and ask what kind of a daycare is this? And I always correct them, this is a preschool. It’s not a daycare,” he said.
At left, Dylan Fitzpatrick, ECP supervision, and Michael Wargo executive director, pose mid playground construction with Rexius.
This is because Tiny Ducks has a “three-pronged approach,” as Fitzpatrick calls it. They incorporate an age-appropriate educational curriculum, social and emotional skills, and repeated opportunities for students to be active and develop motor skills.
“I think what separates us from other programs is that we are a parks and rec company, and so our focus is that happy, healthy, active lifestyle,” he said.
With the 60 new available slots, the preschool also brought in 12 additional teachers to ensure there are opportunities for students to have one-on-one time with their teachers, that Fitzpatrick speaks very highly of.
“We got so lucky with the teachers that we hired. Every single one I would vouch for them personally, with my own kids, with anybody’s kids, they’re just highly qualified,” he said.
Wargo emphasizes that their goal is to make this high-quality care accessible to the community.
“As a public agency, we’re very mindful of being as affordable as we possibly can, and I would like to say somewhat definitively that we do provide some of the lowest cost at the highest quality of care,” he said.
According to the National Database of Childcare Prices, the average cost of childcare in Lane County for preschool alone is projected at $13,680 a year or $1,140 a month.
Willamalane Tiny Ducks offer a variety of prices ranging from $270 per month for part-time in-district students to $1,140 per month for full-time (7:30-5:30 p.m.) out-of-district students.
Springfield Mayor Sean VanGordon in a precarious situation, sandwiched between two mascots.
Within that there are also a variety of scholarships available that Wargo encourages the public to utilize.
“Child Care is an economic development investment,” Springfield Mayor Sean VanGordon said at the Tiny Ducks Ribbon cutting ceremony, “It allows people to go to work, to pursue a career, to essentially grow their family, and it also is something that makes us a viable community of opportunity, knowing that you can choose to move to Springfield and be able to find affordable child care.”
Matt Roberts, the Associate Vice President of Community Relations at the University of Oregon, also spoke at the ceremony and expressed his gratitude for the community’s involvement. “We hope to educate a bunch of young kids that will soar to the university and become Ducks themselves,” Roberts said.
Besides the UO, there were a number of local organizations that helped fund the project such as Robertson Sherwood architects, Chambers Construction, Game Time, Oregon Veterinarian Referral Associates, Washington Federal Foundation, and the Springfield Rotary Foundation.
“This proves that the community cares very much about young people and supporting families that are working,” Wargo said.
