A ribbon-cutting ceremony and one-year anniversary celebration was held Wednesday for Little Hubs Learning Center, a Rochelle day care facility located at 1010 N. 15th St.
Daycare facility returns to Rochelle in 2023
ROCHELLE — A ribbon-cutting ceremony and one-year anniversary celebration was held Wednesday for Little Hubs Learning Center, a day care facility in Rochelle located at 1010 N. 15th St.
The facility opened on January 3, 2023. Before that, Rochelle had not had child care since 2020, when the Kishwaukee Family YMCA child care center in the same location closed. The new daycare center is owned by Ron and Joni Spartz and operated by his daughter Kristin Spartz Barlow as director. Representatives from the Rochelle Chamber of Commerce, the City of Rochelle and the community attended Wednesday’s celebration, along with owners, staff and children.
Joni Spartz said Little Hubs Learning Center had 100 children in the building during the ceremony, with 142 children registered, the maximum capacity. Before opening, he completed security and plumbing upgrades more than a year ago to get the building back up and running, and since then the facility has seen an increase in staff and enrollment.
There are currently 50 children on the facility’s waiting list, and Joni Spartz said that number is growing every day.
“We have plans to potentially have a second location,” Joni Spartz said. “Some of the children on the waiting list have not even been born yet. The need is not limited to this building. We may look for another building for a second location.” Let’s see if it happens. It’s very exciting. This industry is huge. There’s always going to be a baby.”
Spartz-Barlow said Little Hubs Learning Center currently has 34 staff and is fully staffed. However, the facility is always looking for additional help, as staffing levels increased last year due to increased demand. Currently, the need for childcare workers is at its highest. Currently, in this institution he has 13 teachers and his 3 deputy directors.
Joni Spartz said the for-profit day care facility will be in the community as long as Rochelle needs it.
“We plan to be here for a long time,” Spartz said. “It’s a family business. Ron does all the landscaping and maintenance. I do the accounting. Christine is the director. Our oldest son comes in every night and sanitizes everything. Our youngest son is working on wood. Our granddaughter works here.”
Tricia Herrera, executive director of the Rochelle Chamber of Commerce, welcomed Little Hubs Learning Center as a full member of the organization and said that prior to the opening of the day care center, the office was an active member of the community. She said she was on the phone every week, if not every day, asking about the availability of childcare.
“People who are moving here and people who are coming to work here are asking,” Herrera said. “Our partnership with the Chamber of Commerce and the Greater Rochelle Economic Development Corporation includes new businesses coming here, and that’s one of the key questions they have. What’s going on with child care? When we didn’t have a child care facility in town, we were so panicked. Not only did someone open a facility, but we were the ones who opened one with such high quality and training. Thank you for your investment in our community. We are honored to have your quality facility here.”
Mayor John Bearows congratulated Little Hubs Learning Center on its anniversary on behalf of the city. After the previous child care organization closed in 2020, the city began preparatory work to bring the day care center back to town. In a survey of residents conducted in 2022, 72% of respondents said they needed daycare, and 71% said their child would be likely to attend daycare if it opened. , the results were overwhelmingly in favor of day care. city.
“The closure of our previous nursery school in early 2020 was a huge blow to the community,” Ms Bear Rose said. “Not only for the people who work here, but also for the people who work elsewhere and depend on this place. We needed day care. When you step up as individuals to do this. , that was very encouraging for us. These people recognized the need and opportunity to grow the business. We hear nothing but good things.”