SAPLINGS 2.0

Coming soon!

Saplings is growing.

In just five years, Saplings has built a reputation for providing high-quality early childhood education. As the demand for childcare continues to rise, it’s high time we address our mile-long waitlist!

With broad support from our community, we’re planning to expand our operations from 19 students per day to 54. That means we’re building a new facility! But don’t worry… we’re not going far. 😉

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  • "I want more families to have the support of Saplings while raising young kids."

    Saplings Parent

Project Highlights

More Families, More Access

Our new program will more than double the number of children we serve and will now include infants.

Sustainable Operations

Increased capacity will allow us to operate at a more sustainable scale with reduced administrative burden.

Community Vibrancy

A larger program means more young families in our area, more good jobs and more students who will succeed in school.

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Project
Timeline

  • Saplings completed a community child care needs assessment with third-party consultants. The final report showed that a 54-student program would be a more sustainable program, better able to meet local demand for child care.

  • Community surveys and interviews demonstrated broad support for program expansion.

  • Over 20 existing buildings were evaluated and none were deemed feasible for repurposing as our new facility. Two potential building sites identified for feasibilty studies.

  • Following the results of the site feasibility studies, Sapings board of directors officially names the East Craftsbury field adjacent to Saplings’ present location as the future building site.

  • Saplings hired Black River Design, an architecture firm with experience with projects like ours. They’re working on creating a conceptual design and cost estimate to present in June 2024.

  • 2024 - 2025: With a project budget in hand, Saplings will secure funding while the architects finalize the building design.

  • We’ll hire a general contractor and break ground on our new building!

  • We anticipate welcoming the first class of students to use the new building in the fall of 2026.

  • "Without access to affordable child care, families simply can't live here. And we need families here."

    Craftsbury community member

FAQs

  • Saplings is growing its program for three reasons:

    1. We are not currently meeting community demand. In our current facility we can only care for 19 children per day while our waitlist is 30 families long. Our larger capacity will include infant care.

    2. A larger program is more sustainable and financially viable, reducing our reliance on fundraising.

    3. A larger program will enable us to increase access to more low- and moderate-income families.

  • This expansion will allow more young families to stay in and move to our area. Families contribute to the vibrancy of our town as customers, employees, volunteers and neighbors. Our local partnerships will grow, as will the number of good jobs we provide. We’ll increase support for K-12 schools and most importantly: we’ll support the success and wellbeing of more children!

  • The project is overseen by Saplings’ expansion committee:

    Hannah Dreissigacker, Board Chair
    Susie Houston, Board Member
    Melissa Jacobs, Executive Director
    Emily Gletsos, Program Director
    Seth Hayden, community member

    Saplings is partnering with Wagner Development Partnerso guide the project.

    Teachers, families and the community at large will continue to inform the project as it progresses.

    If you’re interested in supporting the project, we’d love to hear from you! Contact us →

  • The planning phase was funded by Make Way for Kids (Vermont Children’s Finance), Vermont Community Development Program, Craftsbury ARPA Fund, and NEK Collaborative.

    Child care is a designated priority area for the state and many funders. We project that the funding for the construction phase will be:

    58% State/Federal Grants

    21% Individual donations

    14% Mortgage

    7% Small grants/foundations

  • Despite the inherent challenges of running a small childcare center combined with navigating a pandemic in our early years, Saplings is on sound financial footing with a positive balance sheet. By funding this project primarily through grants and fundraising, we’ll minimize debt and enter this new phase with increased financial stability.

    We do not plan to open at full capacity. We will use the first 1-2 years to steadily increase enrollment and staffing in order to develop strong systems of support.

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Get Involved

Make a Suggestion

This project is for the community! And we need your questions and ideas in order to do this right. Share your feedback →

Make a Donation

Want to make a positive impact on young families and our communities? We’d love to have your support. Donate now →

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