Tuesday was the first day back for 3 to 5-year-olds at Gold Creek Child Development Center.
Being back in the classroom might take some getting used to, lead teacher Jessica De Leon told her students. When she asked whether they were feeling excited, shy or sad, many kids raised their hands for all three.
“It’s okay if we’re feeling really big emotions,” De Leon said. “If we’re feeling a little sad because we’ve been home with mom and dad, or we haven’t seen our friends.”
The center temporarily closed in January as its board continued to search for a new executive director. Now, that search has come to an end: Nicole Koenneker will start work as the center’s new director later this month.
Ashley Heimbigner is a member of Gold Creek’s volunteer board. She said Koenneker will bring administrative experience and personal connection to the job.
“She is a parent here at Gold Creek and stepped in, raised her hand when we were really facing some staffing struggles at the end of last year and put in countless hours as a volunteer while also having a full-time job and two little ones,” Heimbigner said. “The more time we spent with her, the more we realized that she’s the leader that we need for Gold Creek.”
Filling the executive director position meant Gold Creek could open its doors again, though they’re starting off small.
“When the center closed on Jan. 13, there were four classrooms open,” Heimbigner said. “We’re opening with just one classroom now, which is a combined preschool/pre-K classroom.”
That class has 12 to 14 students on a given day. Before the closure, Gold Creek had about 40 total. The lower number of students means not all staff were rehired. Heimbigner said some of them found jobs at other childcare centers during Gold Creek’s closure.
But Jessica De Leon said she held out.
“I held out for a really long time, because I believed in Gold Creek and that it would reopen,” she said during a snack break. “It’s exciting to see everybody back.”
De Leon submitted applications to other childcare centers during the closure.
“But something in the back of my mind was telling me to just keep holding on,” she said. “My heart was with Gold Creek.”
Heimbigner said the center hopes to hire more staff and reopen the infant and toddler rooms as soon as possible. She expects Gold Creek will face some of the hiring challenges other centers are facing throughout the state, but she says work by groups like the Southeast Alaska Association for the Education of Young Children offers some hope.
“It does feel like everyone is trying to come together to rebuild this resource for our community and provide opportunities for real professional development and career building in this sector,” she said. “But it’s just a start. There’s so much work left to be done.”
