Dubuque Community School District Plans for Wraparound Child Care

Officials recently announced that, pending board approval, the district will begin offering preschool programming in fall 2024 in a portion of the former Medline building at 7900 Chavenelle Road, while retaining preschool classrooms in each of its elementary schools.

The nonprofit Dubuque Initiatives purchased the former Medline building in December 2022, with plans to transform about one-third of the 67,000-square-foot building into a child care center operated by the Dubuque Community Y.

At a meeting of the district’s educational programs and policy committee, Executive Director of Elementary Education Lisa TeBockhorst said she has been in communication with Dubuque Initiatives and many other local organizations over the past few months about the project, as part of the community engagement process for a state grant the district received last year.

The $10,000 Iowa Department of Education Blended Early Learning in Educational Foundations (BELIEF) Grant, which the district received in February 2022, was designed to support exploration of programs that blend child care and early learning. “One of our barriers for our families is access to quality child care before and after school,” TeBockhorst said. “The whole premise of this grant is to lift those barriers – and look at how we provide students the opportunities, education, and supports that they need early on in their development.”

She said the district currently has four elementary schools with two preschool classrooms — Table Mound, Prescott, Kennedy, and Irving – with plans to add a second preschool classroom at Hoover Elementary this fall.

With the opening of the new preschool center, the district would maintain one preschool classroom at each of its elementary schools, moving one classroom from each of the facilities with two classrooms to the Chavenelle Road facility.

The BELIEF Grant was used to fund initial designs for the preschool center, which, according to a press release, would span 18,000 square feet and provide space for up to 10 classrooms, as well as student common areas, sensory areas, meal preparation and services spaces, student support spaces, and administrative offices. An outdoor preschool playground would also be located on the premises.

The preschool center’s proximity to the Dubuque Community Y child care center also would offer easy access for parents who need wraparound care for their children before and after school.

In the release, Lynch and Dubuque Community Y President and CEO Tony Calabrese touted the partnership with the school district.

“Dubuque Initiative’s goal is to create a world-class facility for child care and early learning that is uniquely designed to support the growth of the regional workforce,” Lynch said. “We look forward to working with the district and Dubuque Community Y to expand preschool and child care options for our workforce families.”

District Chief Financial Officer Kevin Kelleher said the district is budgeting $3 million for the buildout of the preschool center, to be funded by money the district receives from the state’s 1-cent sales tax. The district also would look to buy out the part of the building it utilizes for the preschool center, using money from its physical plant and equipment levy fund.

School board members expressed their enthusiasm for the project, although some shared concerns about how families in Dubuque’s downtown and North End areas would be able to transport their children to the new facility.

TeBockhorst emphasized that each elementary school would retain a preschool classroom on campus for families who need a nearby educational setting, and the district is also exploring additional ways to support the need for wrap-around care directly in certain “high-need buildings.”

The new center’s strong focus on childcare and early learning needs for the families of Dubuque’s growing workforce has been part of a strategic initiative with Greater Dubuque Development, which has provided employer and employee childcare needs assessments and market analysis.

“More childcare capacity close to employment growth centers and the ability to wrap childcare around preschool hours should benefit a lot of our working families and help our companies recruit and retain their workforce,” said Rick Dickinson, President of Greater Dubuque Development. ❖