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childcare design journal 5

Design Ideas to Inspire You

SUMMER 2018

Budgeting Basics for your Childcare Startup Calbert Design Group, LLC

CONTENTS 4

Our Why: Improve Children’s Lives

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Learning Space Color Schemes

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Budgeting Basics for your Childcare Startup

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Advantages of Childcare at Work

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5 Design Ideas to Inspire You

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Simple Ways to Conserve Energy

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Playground Design: Ideas to Add Variety

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Childcare Licensing: State Requirements

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ello, we’re welcoming our Summer issue of “Childcare Design Journal”. As a studio of architects, designers, and planners that focus primarily in childcare, we are very pleased that we are in a position to offer this publication as a resource to owners and operators throughout the United States. Our goal is to share with you informative articles and inspirational ideas that will help you feel confident in your decisions regarding the design, construction, and maintenance of your childcare facilities. I hope you will enjoy reading this magazine periodically and that you will allow me to continue to provide great service to you in the future. Please feel free to share this issue with friends and colleagues. I would love to hear what they think of the magazine too. We believe that inspiring childcare design will improve communities and the family support system along the way. Thank you for always keeping our Childcare Design Studio in mind for your design needs.

Rebecca

For more inspiration, visit us at www.ChildcareDesign.com and www.CalbertDesign.com

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Our Why: Improve Children’s Lives Our “Why” is to improve children’s lives by improving their surroundings.

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s architects, the best way we can help improve children’s lives by improving their surroundings is to help the people who take care of them. Outside of being with their parents in their own home, children spend the most time in childcare and at school. It only stands to reason that Childcare and School Directors have the biggest impact on what a child’s environment will be like outside of their homes. Schools can take the same precautions outlined for the home environment and apply them to the education environment. The decisions you make will affect the children in your care, your staff and yourself every single day. As early as picking the location for your school and extending all the way to the completion of construction, you’re deciding everyone’s comfort level. The cumulation of all of your choices will make the difference between a pleasant environment and a stressful one. To begin with, the property location you select will decide how difficult it is to drive in and out of the school during peak traffic commute times. The size and layout of the lot will determine how far a parent and child have to walk from their cars to get into the school on a rainy day. The 4

design of the lot will also determine what the children’s playground will look like and whether it will be shaded enough on a hot sunny day. The size of the building will determine how big the classrooms are going to be which will affect how noisy and cluttered the room is. The exterior design of the building will determine whether your business fits in with the community surroundings and offers a sense of pride which results in whether or not your teachers and parents are proud to have selected your school for where they work or send their children. You even decide how you will protect yourself, your teachers and children from unwanted visitors, bad weather, and emergencies. The level of responsibility is enormous. So many decisions go into the design of a childcare and school building, and usually, the decision makers have never had to make these choices before. If this is the case with you, make sure to select someone who has dedicated many years to helping school owners make smart choices. Experienced education Architects will understand all of the repercussions of your choices and will help you weigh the pros and cons of each choice along the way. SUMMER 2018

Want to buy that property on the corner lot near your neighborhood? We can create a schematic design of what size building, parking lot and playground will fit on the lot before you purchase it. Giving you reassurance that the property will or will not meet your business goals before you make a large investment.

Want to have a larger building but can’t afford it right away? We can design a building that is arranged to have an addition added on at a later date. We’ll also make sure that you will have room for the extra parking and playground required when you build that addition.

Want to build a 2-story to maximize the use of your property? We understand what age groups are allowed to be on a second floor and we understand the space needed to accommodate stairs and elevators. We can also make suggestions on how to keep a visual eye on the second floor. If you’ve ever watched a TED talk, you know they can be very insightful observations about the world around us. In Simon Sinek’s talk, he explains what “the why” is, and it’s significance within every organization. Our Why is to improve children’s lives by improving their surroundings. What’s Your’s?

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Learning Space Color Schemes

Decorating a new play or learning space for children is an exciting time. Design a new learning space from scratch is a wonderful opportunity, allowing you to focus on the factors most important to the child’s well-being. One important consideration is color. The color scheme that you select can have a profound impact on the mental and emotional wellbeing of the children and should be treated with accord.

Blue

Green

Blue is a wonderful color, conducive to focus, comfort and tranquility. Yet it’s often associated with negative emotions. Be it the baby blues, or feeling blue, it has an association with sadness. Yet psychologically, it actually has the opposite effect. Think of the joy of a clear blue sky or wide blue ocean. These are actually quite comforting. As well, blue is shown to encourage focus while imbuing a sense of calm. That makes it an ideal color for your child’s learning space.

Often associated with hospitals, there’s a reason for using the color green. It’s reflective of nature and growth. A large part of the reason we welcome spring is to see the world turn green again. It suggests health and growth, two concepts you’ll certainly want to reinforce in a child-focused room.

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Using These Colors Together Sticking with one color can make space oppressive, countering the positive effects you’re looking for. To help take advantage of all these strengths, take a look at diversifying the surfaces and objects you paint. Walls can be one color, with furniture taking on another. As adults, it’s easy to look for neutral furniture that works within a space. With a child’s space, it can actually be better to feature something that contrasts the room, defining its presence.

Final Thoughts on Design

Yellow Like the two above colors, yellow helps reflect what we find in nature. The warmth of the sun is something even young children learn to recognize quickly. Taking this color as a launching point, you can create a warm, welcoming learning space. A bolder yellow may be more suited to an active space, as it is a very energetic color and may promote more excitement. A pale yellow, on the other hand, is very comforting and reassuring and can easily be utilized anywhere.

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Children process color differently than adults. Whereas maturity and experience help develop an appreciation for subtlety and nuance, children see things in starker terms. This gives you the freedom to go bold, to allow your color choice to influence your child. Color can have a massive impact on your child’s emotional development: by using the colors listed above, you can positively influence your child’s well-being.

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Budgeting Basics for your Childcare Startup

By Krysta Haymes

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hildren are such a joy to be around. They’re curious, kind beings with a wild imagination and huge hearts. Who wouldn’t love working with them every day? These are a few reasons why many people think about starting a childcare center. Unfortunately, not everyone succeeds at achieving this dream! To give successful owners credit, it is a lot of work to open a daycare. There’s so much to think about between the cost to open a daycare, the staff you’ll need to take care of everything, and all the regulation and safety procedures involved. Still, it’s worth following your dream if this is what you really want to do. To take care of the daycare startup costs, here are a few budgeting tips to keep in mind.

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Research Funding Your daycare budget doesn’t have to be based off of your savings alone. Research funding opportunities like small business loans, startup investors, and personal loans. There are even grants for opening a daycare available. Another funding possibility is to crowdsource. Talk to your friends and family about your vision for the daycare and see if they’re willing to support you. This may not raise all the funds you need, but it could help cover some of the costs.

Consult Professionals As helpful as it can be to talk to friends and family, make sure you reach out to childcare center professionals, too. Do you know someone who has already been through this process before? Are you close enough with your child’s current daycare center to ask them a few questions? If you’re not comfortable reaching out to people who will end up being your competition, reach out to childcare design services. These organizations are used to working with all

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kinds of new childcare owners. They help people like you turn their childcare center dreams into reality. Such experience is invaluable when figuring out your budget, not to mention all the other details of starting a childcare center.

Consider All the Costs Speaking of all the other details, make a list of all the costs you expect to incur when opening your childcare business. This goes much further than whether you are buying an old childcare center or building one from the ground up. You’re going to need to pay for furniture and other interior design items, supplies for the children to play with and learn from, and employee costs. There are also licensing and maintenance costs to consider, which will vary depending on the state you live in and how big your facility is. Still, these are costs you can’t afford to overlook. The more you’re prepared to handle all the minor and major details, the better your budgeting efforts will be.

Starting Made Simple Don’t let the thought of all the costs and todo’s put you off from starting a childcare center. If anything, let this challenge fuel your passion to make your dream come true! Remember, you don’t have to take on the task of budgeting, designing, or even marketing your childcare business alone. There are plenty of services available to help you every step of the way – services like the ones we offer.

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Advantages of Childcare at Work Top 5 Benefits of Adding a Childcare Center to your Business Office Complex

Design Your Center Today: There are plenty of great reasons to add a childcare facility to a business office complex. So what are you waiting for? You can attract new businesses to your office building.

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f you’re a parent, you understand that one of the hardest things to do is leave your child at a childcare center. Even the most cooperative kids don’t seem to want to be separated from their parents for even a moment. And experts agree that separation anxiety is a very real phenomenon.

Minimize Seperation Anxiety As previously mentioned, some children can’t stand to be away from their parents. This anxiety can become increasingly and may even result in an anxiety disorder. Adding a childcare center in an office complex minimizes the separation of parent and child which is important for a number of reasons. Aside from separation anxiety, children may have unique medical needs. If a parent is nearby, he or she can stop by and take care of the child temporarily. Furthermore, having their kids nearby seems to put parents at ease. If something goes wrong or they need to leave suddenly, there’s no need to rearrange their entire day. They can simply pick up the child from childcare and leave.

Increase Productivity Perhaps no type of commercial building benefits from childcare services as much as an office. How many times have you had a perfectly productive day, only to receive a call from your child’s school or childcare service telling you they need to be picked up? Suddenly, that wonderfully productive day comes to a screeching halt. But if the child is nearby, the parent may feel more inclined to pick up their child and continue working. Even just a few more moments of productivity can mean the difference between finishing a work task or deferring it until tomorrow.

A Relaxing Atmosphere for the Parents Yet offices and shopping centers aren’t the only types of buildings that could benefit from childcare. The addition of childcare allows for a more relaxed experience from the parent regardless of the establishment. Let them unwind without worrying about what their kids are up to.

Childcare Has Cognitive Benefits

Placing children in childcare isn’t only great for their social learning, it can help improve their academic learning, as well. According to a study, children who attended childcare had higher reading and math scores when they started school. The reassurance that childcare teachers are developing the children with academically appropriate learning can put a parent’s mind at ease, knowing that their child will get a jump start on their education.

Makes an Office Building More Appealing Adding a childcare center is a fantastic way for businesses and office complexes to show that they value parents’ time and work/life balance. As a result, having an on-site center may make the building more appealing to prospective businesses and their employees. WWW.CHILDCAREDESIGN.COM

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5 Design Ideas

to Inspire You Do you have a heart for serving young children and their families? Is opening a daycare something you want to do? Then proper daycare design has probably been something you’ve been worried about.

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here are over 15 million children in the U.S, that need child care. If you want to help provide a caring and educational space for kids, you may be overwhelmed with all the planning.

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Welcome Area

One of the daycare ideas that you may not think of is a welcome area. You want to be sure that the entrance to your daycare is welcoming. This is the first thing that the children see, so make it both welcoming and practical. Consider adding a short bench for the kids to sit on while they remove and put on their shoes. The bench could also have storage cubbies for their shoes. Do you want hooks for coats and hats? Those could easily be added above the bench.

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Reading Station

A reading station is a great addition to your toddler classroom setup. Have book bins set WWW.CHILDCAREDESIGN.COM

up with a large rug to create a comfortable and relaxing setting. Bookshelves that are at eye level for the kids to be able to get a book of their choice independently. Soft and cushioned seating will help the children to relax and enjoy the quiet time. Audio versions of books are a great way to suppliment book reading time. the children quickly learn and memorize their favourites and its fun to watch them pretend read.

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Napping Area

Nap time is a given in a daycare, so you will want to make sure you have an area designated for napping. Infants will need to nap in separate sleeping areas because they typically require more naps than toddlers. Have an assigned area for each child that is designated for nap times. The children will get into the routine of knowing where their daily nap will take place, and familiarity brings comfort when a child is sleepy. 13

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Open Areas for Activities

You will want to include open areas for activities in your daycare layout. Think of the needs of the children and accommodate the areas appropriately. Use rugs and floor mats for these spaces. What colors do you want to have in your daycare? The color scheme you choose is important for the ambiance of the space. While you are designing these open areas, don’t forget to add cozy places. Consider a cozy corner that a child can “escape” to if he is feeling ill or wants some quiet time away from the other activities. Fill this area with pillows and soft blankets.

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Low Laying Furniture

It’s important to remember that you need to have your daycare setup to accommodate the little ones. Make sure that the cubbies are low as well as the tables and chairs. Hand washing sinks available within a childs reach helps them to learn personal hygeine without the risk of falling off a step stool. Ready to Create the Perfect Daycare Design for Your Business? Creating the perfect daycare design can be a lot of fun and a lot of work. A design specialist that has experience with daycare and preschool layout can guide you in the right direction.

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Simple Ways To Conserve Energy

eginning with the energy crisis of the 1970’s, designers have been designing for energy conservation. Since then, “green” design has meant minimizing your building’s carbon footprint using less energy, less water, avoiding waste, and creating a healthy building to occupy. Building owners can easily select green goals by creating a list and then order the list according to cost to build vs. payback time. Start with the easiest, cheapest, and most effective items (like spray foam around junction boxes), and work as far down the list of options as you can afford.

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Here’s a simple list of ways to conserve energy: • Select building products that have a successful track record. • Work with nature and not against it. • Maximize natural light and solar warmth. • Consider natural buffers against prevailing wind patterns. • Minimize water run-off by limiting the amount of pavement covering your land. • Use energy efficient boilers, furnaces, heat pumps, air conditioners, water heaters, appliances and light bulbs. • Use low-flow plumbing fixtures. • Insulate walls, doors, windows, floors, and ceilings. • Select synthetic flooring and carpets made from recycled materials. • Specify glues, coatings, stains, paints, and caulks that don’t outgas toxins. • Buy local materials to minimize shipping and support your local economy. The list is simple and full of straightforward ideas that are easy to comprehend. According to the AIA, “for larger buildings, energy modeling fees tend to be dwarfed by uncovered reductions in construction cost and energy cost.” So if you need to justify the costs of these items to your organization, you will need to hire energy modeling services from engineers and cost budgets from estimators to quantify the amount of energy that a building will save along with the costs associated and the payback period. Engineers can be very accurate, but be aware that you will have to spend money on professional services to prove that you will save money on energy savings. Unless there is a specific accountability requirement, it can be just as effective to go with the simple ways to conserve energy list. They are known systems that are tried and true.

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We believe that designing your facility with energy conservation in mind makes for a smart business decision.

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Design: Playground

Ideas to Add Variety

ARCHITECTURE CALBERT DESIGN GROUP 18

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one are the days of playground design that only incorporates a couple of slides, swings and some monkey bars. Today’s child is a discriminating one, and when they go to the park, school, church, or community center to play they expect something much more elaborate than what is in their own back yard. In order to get their attention and keep them coming back to your facility over and over again, you need to raise your game. Playground designers have created many different themes, colors, activities, and concepts for you to choose from. And manufacturer’s of playground equipment have catalogs of choices. Many can also create one-of-a-kind custom pieces just for your organization. Here’s a few fresh ideas to help you add unique variety into your playground design.

Include Art.

We all know that art projects can get messy, so taking them outside and including art as a part of outdoor play is a natural choice and makes cleanup easier to manage for teachers and staff. Creating art teaches children problem solving and collaboration skills and being outside makes children more aware of light, shadows and weather. Having a playground design with wide open surroundings encourages them to express more freely and create “outside the box” compositions. The Adventurous Child Playgrounds have developed a series of art related playground equipment ideal for commercial environments.

Include Imaginative Play.

Imaginative play is the art of make believe. Supporting pretend playing can be as simple as an outdoor kitchen and playhouse or as elaborate as a wooden train or half sunken ship. Structure is the key to giving children something to pretend with. One day the playhouse might be a house, the next day it might be a school or a movie theater. With any transportation WWW.CHILDCAREDESIGN.COM

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related structure, the children can pretend about where they are going or coming home from. Pretend play teaches children about story telling, as they create and share the story about where they are going and what they are doing, they are learning how to develop story plots and characters. Is this Pinecraft wooden train the Polar Express headed to the north pole, or is it venturing out west into Indian country? Maybe it’s coming home from Africa!

Include Music.

Play time is meant for exploration and music exploration is an important part of a child’s cognitive, academic, communication, social interaction, and motor skills. Memorizing the alphabet through song is how most of us learned it. Dancing to rhythm emphasizes the freedom of expression, patterns and spatial awareness. Landscape structures has created a line of outdoor musical instruments, Rhapsody Outdoor Musical Instruments to include music into outdoor environments that will be able to withstand the elements. Slides, swings, and monkey bars are great but not all children want to participate in the same traditional outdoor playground activities every day. Adding a variety of playground design activities such as art, music, and imaginative play will engage all types of personalities, moods, and expressions of free play. Out in the fresh air and sunshine, they will be able to express themselves freely and let their imaginations thrive.

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Slides, swings, and monkey bars are great but not all children want to participate in the same traditional outdoor playground activities every day.

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“childcare licensing” a sampling of

STATE REQUIREMENTS

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FL

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The information provided on this page is a basic outline of Florida Child Care requirements that pertain to the design and construction of Child Care Facilities in the State of Florida. This information is a brief synopsis and does not include all of the detailed requirements needed to satisfy the governing authorities for Child Care Licensing, Building Code, Fire Code, Accessibility, or local Zoning. These guidelines are for general information and planning purposes. Contact the governing authority directly or engage a Licensed Architect to complete a full analysis of your school location.

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GA

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The information provided on this page is a basic outline of Georgia Child Care requirements that pertain to the design and construction of Child Care Facilities in the State of Georgia. This information is a brief synopsis and does not include all of the detailed requirements needed to satisfy the governing authorities for Child Care Licensing, Building Code, Fire Code, Accessibility, or local Zoning. These guidelines are for general information and planning purposes. Contact the governing authority directly or engage a Licensed Architect to complete a full analysis of your school location.

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IL

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The information provided on this page is a basic outline of Illinois Child Care requirements that pertain to the design and construction of Child Care Facilities in the State of Illinois. This information is a brief synopsis and does not include all of the detailed requirements needed to satisfy the governing authorities for Child Care Licensing, Building Code, Fire Code, Accessibility, or local Zoning. These guidelines are for general information and planning purposes. Contact the governing authority directly or engage a Licensed Architect to complete a full analysis of your school location.

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NY

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The information provided on this page is a basic outline of New York Child Care requirements that pertain to the design and construction of Child Care Facilities in the State of New York. This information is a brief synopsis and does not include all of the detailed requirements needed to satisfy the governing authorities for Child Care Licensing, Building Code, Fire Code, Accessibility, or local Zoning. These guidelines are for general information and planning purposes. Contact the governing authority directly or engage a Licensed Architect to complete a full analysis of your school location.

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NC

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The information provided on this page is a basic outline of North Carolina Child Care requirements that pertain to the design and construction of Child Care Facilities in the State of North Carolina. This information is a brief synopsis and does not include all of the detailed requirements needed to satisfy the governing authorities for Child Care Licensing, Building Code, Fire Code, Accessibility, or local Zoning. These guidelines are for general information and planning purposes. Contact the governing authority directly or engage a Licensed Architect to complete a full analysis of your school location.

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OH

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The information provided on this page is a basic outline of Ohio Child Care requirements that pertain to the design and construction of Child Care Facilities in the State of Ohio. This information is a brief synopsis and does not include all of the detailed requirements needed to satisfy the governing authorities for Child Care Licensing, Building Code, Fire Code, Accessibility, or local Zoning. These guidelines are for general information and planning purposes. Contact the governing authority directly or engage a Licensed Architect to complete a full analysis of your school location.

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PA

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The information provided on this page is a basic outline of Pennsylvania Child Care requirements that pertain to the design and construction of Child Care Facilities in the State of Pennsylvania. This information is a brief synopsis and does not include all of the detailed requirements needed to satisfy the governing authorities for Child Care Licensing, Building Code, Fire Code, Accessibility, or local Zoning. These guidelines are for general information and planning purposes. Contact the governing authority directly or engage a Licensed Architect to complete a full analysis of your school location.

SUMMER 2018

TN

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The information provided on this page is a basic outline of Tennessee Child Care requirements that pertain to the design and construction of Child Care Facilities in the State of Tennessee. This information is a brief synopsis and does not include all of the detailed requirements needed to satisfy the governing authorities for Child Care Licensing, Building Code, Fire Code, Accessibility, or local Zoning. These guidelines are for general information and planning purposes. Contact the governing authority directly or engage a Licensed Architect to complete a full analysis of your school location.

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WHY NOT LOOK FORWARD

to a beautifully designed childcare building? Start searching for the property of your dreams. With the right support and the necessary tools, your childcare vision can become reality.

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Home sweet home away from home. EXPECT MORE FROM YOUR CHILDCARE CENTER.

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plug. ‘word of mouth’ has potential to be electrifyingly effective. Thank you for your continued business and support. Your assistance in generating new clients for our business is always appriciated.

Calbert Design Group, LLC Rebecca Calbert, AIA, LEED AP Owner, Principal Architect 2950 Cherokee St., NW, Suite 600 Kennesaw, GA 30144 678-398-7744 Rebecca@CalbertDesign.com