Editor's note: This is the next in a series of articles about the member agencies of the United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley.
PARKERSBURG - The Parkersburg Day Nursery, established in 1908, is the oldest childcare center in West Virginia.
The nursery is a member of the United Way Alliance of the Mid-Ohio Valley.
Director Karen Puccio said the nursery is dedicated to educating children to become more independent and prepare them for their academic and social life. It's been the nursery's mission since 1908.
Betty Cain, assistant director, has been with the nursery since 1974, seeing thousands of kids come through the door. The nursery keeps scrapbooks, filled with pictures and newspaper clippings of the nursery through the years.
"Lots and lots of kids," Puccio said.
"We will strive to promote a child's physical, mental, emotional and social growth within a caring environment," Puccio said. "We focus on low income, but we will render services to anybody."
The nursery was founded in 1908 by five women who financed the nursery by holding weekly sales of home-baked goods, needlework and flowers. In its infancy, widowed mothers who needed to work to support their families found that the nursery provided excellent supervised care for their children.
"The Parkersburg Day Nursery has been, and will strive to be, an asset to the community for many years," Puccio said.
The Parkersburg Day Nursery has received support from the United Way since 1925. Throughout the years, the nursery prospered through local, state and federal grants and through the support of the Parkersburg area residents and organizations.
Initially, the services of the Parkersburg Day Nursery were free. As the economic picture has changed throughout the years and the two-income family has become the norm, the nursery has adopted a sliding scale fee schedule based on family income.
The nursery is licensed by the state for 58 children, which includes its infant annex adjacent to the main building. The annex is for children under 24 months.
Both programs include planned activities specific to each age group, learning centers, age-specific curriculum and the availability of two meals and a snack per child each day.
As an Early Learning Center, the Day Nursery offers a structured curriculum for all of its age groups. The nursery attempts to facilitate learning and expanding a child's abilities through learning centers. Activities are planned with the skills and needs of the children in mind.
"The skills we enhance are attention spans, fine motor skills, the emotional need to belong, the need for concrete experiences, and large motor skills," Puccio said.
"The teachers on our staff are educated in early childhood development, and with their guidance, children will grow socially, physically, mentally and emotionally in a loving and caring environment," she said.
The nursery is under the direction and supervision of a professional board of directors, with extensive experience in childcare. The selection of teachers is based on their sensitivity and proven abilities to work with children. The staff is certified in CPR, First Aid, and Food Handlers. They are also required to complete a two-year training program related to childcare and complete 15 hours of yearly training specific to the age group of their class.
Puccio said the Parkersburg Day Nursery believes in strong, open communication with the parents. Puccio encourages parents to stop by the center at any time when a child is present, participate in the Parent Advisory Committee which meets four times a year and complete the Parent Feedback Forms.
Just last week, the nursery launched the Funshine Express, which Puccio said will help stay in step with educational standards in the state.
"It hits reading, match, science and language," she said. "It builds school readiness skills."
