Dionne Blackwell, the Director and Owner of Growing Legacy Early Learning Center, has been in the child care field for 14 years. What began as a summer job turned into “a passion and a motivator,” leading her to earn a degree in early childhood education. Dionne says that Child Care Services Association (CCSA) has helped her in her child care journey in many ways.
Dionne said that CCSA is a wonderful resource with a wealth of knowledge she has used many times. She has participated in the Making the Most of Classroom Interactions coaching and has reached out to CCSA on many occasions, especially for information on developing programs and policies for children with behavioral needs. She is also a Child Care WAGE$® Program participant.
Growing Legacy never closed during the COVID-19 pandemic thanks to Dionne’s hard work, but that did not come easily. During the pandemic, Growing Legacy had to move to a new building, which led to the loss of the child care’s infant and toddler programs. After taking a year to make her new building adaptable for young children, she was able to reinstate those programs and is now back to full capacity with a waitlist.
Dionne says that staffing has been extremely difficult. It has been hard for her to find teachers who want to stay for a long period. She feels that the solution to this problem lies in the way that we look at child care; we need to shift our view to “look at child care as a priority” because teachers are not able to work long-term for what they earn now. In order to maintain quality teachers, Dionne says that this change is crucial.
In the coming years, Dionne will be working to get Growing Legacy accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). This accreditation helps to hold child care centers to a set of ten standards and helps families find trustworthy child care providers. NAEYC tailors the accreditation process to each specific center to improve leadership, curriculum, and community and family relationships. She is looking forward to continuing her relationship with CCSA and utilizing our resources to keep improving Growing Legacy.
