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. About us.... .
Melrose Daycare Center, Inc. was founded in 1971 by a group from Melrose including members of the First Congregational Church, who were instrumental in setting aside space in the new church building for day care center, which would serve the whole community. Our Center cares for children one month through 6 years old. We are a private non-profit, non-sectarian organization which receives funds from parent tuition, the Massachusetts Department of Social Services, Bureau of Nutrition, Kappa Delta Psi of Melrose, and other charitable organizations. The Center is governed by volunteer Board of Directors which is responsible for setting policies, raising funds, evaluating the program and the staff, and networking with the community. The Board has annual elections in June of each year at which time new Board members and officers are elected. Four to five parents from the Center are invited to be on the Board. If you are interested in serving on the Board, please let the Director know so that she can inform the nominating committee. (A complete list of the Board of Directors is attached.) Parent participation in activities of the Center is strongly encouraged. From time-to-time, ad hoc committees will be formed by the Board of Directors, and it is hoped that parents will be actively involved in these bodies. The Director of the Center meets with the Board at least once per month. The Director supervises the full-time staff, the cooks, part-time aides and volunteers. Currently the administration at Melrose Day Care Center is shared by two people. Caroline Yoder has been with the Center for 17 years and was full time director for the first 7 years. She now works part time and shares the position with Janet Dotolo. Caroline has her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from the Pennsylvania State University and her Master’s degree in Education from Wheelock College in Boston, Massachusetts. Janet Dotolo
has been with Melrose Day Care Center for the past 16 years.
She worked as a full time toddler, pre-school, pre-kindergarten, and
kindergarten teacher for the first 6 years in various and diversified capacities.
As of September of 1998, Janet began working as a Co-director with Caroline Yoder. Janet
has her Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Lesley College in
Cambridge, Massachusetts. In
the past 14 years, Melrose Day Care Center increased it’s license capacity
from 58 to 85 children on three different occasions. This was accomplished by expanding the
infant/toddler room to enable opening two separate classrooms and by adding an older
toddler room as well as two additional pre-school classrooms.
The Center ran a full day kindergarten program until June of 2001. Due to the changing needs in the community, that classroom
was converted to a Part-time Preschool program, which opened in the fall of
2001. Our
Infant room (Turtle classroom) has two full time teachers and a part time
teacher’s aide. We maintain a 2
(staff) to 7 (children) ratio in the infant classroom.
The children can range in age from 1 month to (approx.) 15 months.
Our infant teachers have been with the Center for 7 to 15 years and have
extensive experience working with infants and toddlers. Our
Younger Toddler room ( Teddy Bear classroom) has three teachers and one part
time teacher’s aide. Two of these
teachers share a full time position. We
maintain a 2 (staff) to 9 (children) ratio in the younger toddler classroom.
The children can range in age from approximately 12 months to (approx.) 24 months.
Our younger toddler teachers have varied experiences and education
levels. They have been with the
Center for 2 to 13 years. Our
Older Toddler room ( Rascal classroom) has two full time teachers and a part
time teachers’ aide. We maintain
a 2 (staff) to 9 (children) ratio in the older toddler classroom.
The children can range in age from approximately 24 months to (approx.) 36 months.
Our older toddler teachers have been with the Center for 11 to 13 years and have
varied education levels and extensive experience working with toddlers. Our
Younger Pre-school classroom ( Munchkin classroom) has two full time teachers
and a part time teachers’ aide. We
maintain a 2 (staff) to 15 (children) ratio in the younger pre-school classroom.
The children can range in age from 2 years 9 months to (approx.) 4
years old. Our younger pre-school
teachers have been with the Center for 8 years to 10 years.
They have their Bachelor’s degrees in early childhood education and
have varied levels of experience in early childhood settings. Our
Older Pre-school/Younger Pre-k room ( Dolphin classroom) has one full time teacher
and a part time aide. We maintain a
1 (staff) to 10 (children) ratio in this classroom, although often there
is a 2:10 ratio. The children range
in age from approximately 3 years 9 months to (approx.) 4 ½ years.
The teacher in this classroom has been with the Center for 4 years.
She
has experience with all classrooms, is teacher-qualified through the Office of Child Care
Service and is currently going back to school for her Bachelor's degree in
Elementary Education.. Our
Pre-k classroom ( Penguin classroom) has two full time teachers and a part
time teacher’s aide. We maintain
a 2 (staff) to 20 (children) ratio in this classroom, although typically they do
not have more than 17 or 18 children on any given day.
The children range in age from approximately 4 ½ years to 6 years.
The teachers in this classroom have been with the Center for 5 to 12 years
and also have varied levels of education and experience in early childhood settings. Our
Part-time Preschool program ( Polar Bear classroom) is a mixed aged group classroom,
which can accommodate up to 15 children. We
maintain a 1 (staff) to 10 (children) ratio in this classroom when there are 10
or less children enrolled. When
there are 15 children in the classroom, we maintain a 2 (staff) to 15 (children)
ratio. The children in this
classroom can range in age from 2 years 9 months to 5 years. The main teacher in this classroom has been with the Center for
22 years
and has her Bachelor’s degree in early childhood education.
She has extensive experience working with children 2 years 9 months and
older and has run her own programs (Kindergarten and now the Part-time Preschool
program) at
Melrose Day Care Center for the past 16 years.
There are also several part time teachers and teachers aides who work in a floating capacity. They will substitute in all classrooms when teachers are sick, on vacation or just serve as an extra hand. Some of them, with varied educational levels, have been with the Center for over five years. We
provide a full time cook as the Center serves breakfast, lunch, and 2
snacks per day. Finally,
there are two Administrative Assistants, one full time and one part time, who have been with the Center for
9 to10 years and maintain the accounting, including payroll and all
state contracts.
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