By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
On Monday, the Delavan-Darien School Board moved forward with two early learning initiatives. The board approved pursuing a contract with a childcare provider at the Wileman Elementary building and also approved a new all-day, pre-school program for next year.
The board approved negotiating a contract with Kristen and Marc Marseo to rent space at Wileman for a childcare center.
District Administrator Jill Sorbie and the board have been discussing the possibility of opening a childcare center in the space, which would otherwise be vacant at the end of the current school year. Next year Darien Elementary School will reopen as Darien Intermediate School for grades 3 and 4. The early childhood programs currently offered at Wileman will move over to Turtle Creek Elementary School.
Sorbie has said in the past that the new childcare center could be district-operated or the space could be rented out to a willing business. She has said the community has a need for childcare services and if the district provides it, some of those prospective students might stay in the district instead of open enrolling out.
The Marseos currently operate a small childcare center in Waterford that they plan to close, a larger facility in Salem and a larger facility in Elkhorn called TLC, The Learning Curve. The Delavan facility will be called TLC Little Comets Learning Center.
Kristen Marseo said she has been working in childcare for 20 years and her husband Marc has been in the business for four years. She said they looked at opening a center in Delavan a couple of years ago but were not sure why there was not already one in the community, so were hesitant to do so on their own. When the opportunity to partner with the school district came up, they were immediately interested.
Sorbie said working with the Marseos seems like an instant fit to her. According to the agreement, the Marseos would rent 45 percent of the building… read the rest of the story in the April 11 Delavan Enterprise.
