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Daycare opens at Bennett Mountain
It was craft time for Amiah Aldape as the two year old dipped her finger in the paint. Her mother, Cortney, watched as the youngster dabbed the paint on a blue piece of paper, each dot representing a tiny snowflake.
Just a few steps away, Kalee Hill sat in a rocking chair as she entertained her two-month-old daughter, Aurora. It was the first time in hours the two had a chance for some personal time that day.
The situation was similar for Echo Maas and Ben Clark as they sat in the adjoining room. A desk lamp provided a few feeble rays of light in the darkened room as their daughter, Oakley, slept in Echo's arms.
The students from Bennett Mountain High School knew these brief moments with their children wouldn't last much longer. As the lunch break came to an end, the teens would end up walking upstairs once again to pick up their studies as part of their academic workload.
But having a new daycare center located just a few steps away seemed to make the adjustment going from parents to students a lot easier. Officially opening earlier this month, it's allowing students from Mountain Home's alternative high school to find a balance between academics and their lives as moms and dads.
Originally scheduled to open last March, plans to build the two-room daycare center in the school's basement faced delays due to additional construction and renovations needed before the facility could open, said school administrator Stehvn Tesar. Among them was the need to build an additional exterior doorway, complete with a ramp.
The school didn't factor in that additional entrance when the project was first introduced, Tesar said. It took time to pull together the additional funding.
Tesar, who also teaches at the school, emphasized that every dollar needed to open the daycare came from donations provided by local organizations, businesses and private citizens
Not one cent for the $30,000 project came from the school district, Tesar said. In addition, Bennett Mountain received $20,000 in additional donations ranging from appliances to handmade quilts.
Currently, the daycare serves seven children ranging in age from two months to two years old. One room is dedicated play area with a former classroom serving as a designated sleeping area, complete with cribs set aside for each child.
The daycare fills a demand first identified when the alternative high school first opened in 2013, according to Mary Kaye Johnson, who serves as the school's counselor.
"When the doors opened here... there were already teen moms coming to the school," Johnson said in a previous interview with the Mountain Home News.
In many cases, these teen parents had dropped out of Mountain Home High School because they missed too many days of class since they couldn't find reliable daycare. Bennett Mountain's newest addition helps resolve that issue, Johnson said.
"It allows eight parents to come to school on a regular basis, Tesar said. "That's our number one goal... we want kids to come to school. If the kids are here, not only are they engaged academically, they are going to show growth. Without this daycare in place, a lot of these parents weren't willing to go out into the community and put their kids in daycare. They feel very comfortable having their children in this building."
These parents receive subsides from the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to cover a bulk of their daycare expenses on a sliding scale system based on their income. As part of their agreement with the school, these students are required to visit with their children at lunch.
They also spend at least one period during the day to help out at the daycare, Tesar said.
According to Johnson, this agreement has its advantages.
"They get to see their child during the day and don't have to wait for six to eight hours to pass before they get to see them," Johnson said. "They really like that."
"Ultimately, it allows kids to go to school, finish their academics, graduate and be ready for the real world," Tesar said.
Aldape admits that finding a balance between school work, being a full-time mom and holding down a job was not easy. During her time at Mountain Home High School, she was often late for classes since she had to drop her daughter off at a local daycare center.
Juggling school work, raising a child and holding down a part-time job was a struggle, Aldape said. During her sophomore year, she left the high school and spent the first semester taking online classes but realized she wasn't making any progress.
"I kept telling myself, 'I'll do it later,' " she said regarding the self-paced school program.
She ended up returning to Mountain Home High School to complete her second semester only to see her grades suffer as she focused most of her attention on raising her daughter.
"My grades were not good," she admitted.
Last year, she was accepted to attend classes at Bennett Mountain where she saw her grades improve. However, she went back to Mountain Home and watched her grades slip once again.
Having the daycare at the school has a number of benefits, Aldape said. It allows her to spend time with her daughter between classes and during the lunch break.
Instead of struggling with her grades, Aldape sees herself going on to college to major in phlebotomy.
"I don't want to skip school," she said.
Hill appreciates having the daycare just a short distance from her classroom, where she has the option to be with her daughter between classes.
"I like not having to worry about where to take her every day," she said.
The senior admits that the transition to Bennett Mountain will allow her to graduate ahead of schedule. At the same time, she appreciates the piece of mind she receives knowing her daughter is nearby.
"Whenever I need to, I can come down here and be with her," said Hill, who also plans to go on to college while setting her sights on becoming an English teacher.
Currently celebrating its second anniversary this month, Bennett Mountain's enrollment continues to increase. Today, that number stands at 70 with Tesar expecting enrollment to climb to 85 when the new school year begins this fall.