A new day care called Wee Care Too Learning Center has opened at 1302 Kenner St. off Truman Boulevard in Crystal City.
A group of people who formerly worked at or had children enrolled at the former Wee Care Learning Center in Festus opened the new day care.
Paige Mills, the Wee Care Too director, said the Wee Care community was heartbroken when the old day care in Festus closed in December 2021.
“There is such a great need for child care in our community,” Mills said. “Me and a few of the former families that went to Wee Care organized a new company. I worked for Wee Care for 13 or 14 years. There was no copyright to the name Wee Care.”
She said Wee Care Too opened several months ago on a limited basis and is now in the process of fully opening to the public.
“We have been in this building since December (2022),” Mills said. “We could care for six children until we were licensed. We’ve been fully licensed since April 5. With our licensing, we can accommodate up to 42 students.
As of Monday, 25 students had been enrolled.
“We need to hire more teachers. Right now, we have eight,” Mills added.
She does not expect the remaining openings to last for long.
“There is such a great need in our community for child care,” Mills said. “People want a safe place for their children to go.”
She said Wee Care Too accepts children 6 weeks to 6 years old.
“We stop, basically, when a student enters kindergarten,” Mills said.
Wee Care Too is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“We hope to expand our hours in the future,” Mills said.
She said Wee Care Too provides a safe, nurturing atmosphere for children, adding that the majority of the employees are first-aid and CPR certified.
“We are safe-sleep certified. That means we have taken classes for infants and toddlers. We have an EMT (emergency medical technician) on staff. Collectively, we have 100 years of experience in child care,” she said.
“We also have our food and beverage permit, so we can serve breakfast, lunch and a snack every day.”
Mills said the staff prides itself on providing children with both learning and play opportunities.
“We have a full scholarship curriculum,” she said. “Donna Ames is in charge of our music and movement program, where we sing songs and dance.”
Ames, who worked at Wee Care from 1985 until its closure in December 2021, said she is thrilled to be a part of the new Wee Care Too day care.
“I’m just happy that the parents would come together to make this possible,” Ames said.
The owners of the old Wee Care business and facility, 821 American Legion Drive, Festus, sold the 5-acre property, which includes a 20,460-square-foot building, for $3.4 million in December 2021 to the Festus R-6 School District. The school will use the facility for its Early Childhood Education program set to open during the 2023-2024 school year.
For more information about Wee Care Too, call 636-465-0444.
