Physical Facility
A good child care center facility needs to be functional for the children, staff, and families that use the program. When looking for a site, consider the following:
- Are you interested in buying/renovating an existing child care center or are you interested in having a center built from the ground up?
- Do you want to own your building or rent a space?
- Does zoning allow child care as a use at your potential location?
- Is the building easy to access for your potential customers?
(e.g. –handicap accessible, located near a main road, ample parking, convenient to area employers, on the local bus route, etc.)
- Is the building large enough to handle the numbers of children you want to service? Keep in mind that
- 50% of the facility typically goes towards classroom space
- 25% goes towards program support (e.g. – storage, reception area, office space, etc)
- 25% goes towards support space (e.g. – walls, hallways, janitorial closet, etc).
- DPH requires a minimum of 35 square feet of space per child indoors and 75 square feet of space per child outdoors. However, early childhood experts typically recommend 45-50 square feet per child indoors to help ensure quality.
- Is the building and site free from hazards such as lead paint, underground tanks, asbestos, etc.?
- Do you have the financial resources necessary to bring the building and site up to codes and regulations?
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