Kid’s Castle not your typical day care

While it caters children between six weeks and 12-years-old, it provides more than just classrooms.

The 22,000-square-foot, $3.5 million child care center at 4445 E. Maynor St. features a library, gymnasium, computer lab, cafeteria, fresh air filtration systems and a 21,000-square-foot playground.

“We’re like a Super Wal-Mart of day care centers,” said Keith Brown with a laugh. “We’re providing everything we can to help the children.”

Brown, who owns the business with his wife, Sheri, opened their second Kid’s Castle on the east side of Decatur in January. Within eight months, the center’s enrollment hit 175. With a license for 247 children, Keith Brown expects to be at full capacity within two years.

“We’re far exceeding our expectations for this facility,” he said.

Its services include a full-day preschool; a kindergarten readiness program and after-school care for older children. The staff includes about 38 teachers, a five-member management team and several kitchen staff.

Tuition rates vary depending on the child’s age, from $205 a week for toddlers, to $175 a week for preschoolers. Families with more than one child enrolled can receive family discounts.

Chelsea Bray, director of the center, views the Kid’s Castle as a staple of the community. She said its mission has been to help children as they prepare to go into the school system.

“I think us focusing on the education of the children is really important for people in the community. We’re preparing these kids for going to school,” she said.

Children at the center are being taught at a first-grade level, and Brown said a lower-level of preschool is being taught to children as young as two-years-old.

“We’re giving them another year of education,” Bray said.

Brown said the teachers work closely with the children to make sure no one is being left behind in terms of education. Additionally, providing the children with a cafeteria and gymnasium environment helps prepare them for actual school.

“We’re getting them out of the classroom … that way they’re not intimidated when they do get to kindergarten,” Brown said.

Aside from the day care, Kid’s Castle is continuing to look for ways to help children and families in the community. A new program provides families with a hot meal every Wednesday, and a rotation of clinics is held two nights a week on a variety of sports and activities.

So far, the feedback from the staff and children has been overwhelmingly positive.

Olivia Bray, a four-year-old at the center, said she and her classmates enjoy all the services provided.

“We play soccer. We play in the gym. It’s fun,” she said.

The first Kid’s Castle opened on North Monroe Street in 2007, but the Browns had no idea how quickly their new center would take off.

“We started day one with one kid, and within six months, we were at the max 137 kids,” Keith Brown said. “That’s when we noticed that we obviously ran a pretty good program and there was a need for another center.”

With a waiting list of more than 400 children, the couple spent 18 months laying out and designing a new center before bringing in an architect to complete their vision.

Since he cannot get a larger license, Brown said the Kid’s Castle facility will not be expanding any more. However, as the Kid’s Castle has already been a success for the couple, Brown said he is focused on continuing to branch out to other locations. He said there were several prospective locations for new centers, but said nothing is official yet.

“We’re young, energetic and we think we have a great business model,” Brown said.