New early childhood center hopes to take on educational disparities

Abbi Kruse

The Playing Field, a unique childcare center seeking to bring kids ages 0-3 from different socioeconomic and racial backgrounds together in one classroom, will open next fall in the lower level of Bethany United Methodist Church.

The program's founder, Abbi Kruse, said she wants to know the effects of placing dissimilar children together at an early age, and hopes it will help close education disparities between white and minority students that have become a focus in Madison.

“It's my hope that at least if our children are playing together, that that's a start,” Kruse said.  “And from there who knows what can happen?”

Monica Host, the city of Madison's Child Care Program Coordinator, said she applauds Kruse's initiative to purposefully combine children from different backgrounds.

“It's better for everyone.  It's better for families, it's better for children,” she said.

Kruse’s plan for the new center were came from necessity. The lower level of Bethany United Methodist Church is currently home to UW-Madison's School of Human Ecology's Preschool Lab where Kruse works as the administrator.  Budget cuts will see operations at Bethany combined with a Mineral Point Road location. Kruse’s position will be cut.

Instead of taking a teaching job offered to her at the new location, Kruse decided to open her own center.

Having spent years teaching and managing in early-childhood education, Kruse said she is most concerned about quality.  She said too often childcare centers that are most affordable employ under-qualified teachers at low wages. But because research shows that significant brain development occurs early in a child's life, Kruse said anything but high quality care is unacceptable.  

According to Harvard's Center on the Developing Child's website, “The first years of life are a very busy and crucial time for the development of brain circuits...it is never too late to build new neural circuits, but in establishing a strong foundation for brain structure, earlier is better.”

Because of this Kruse said she would like optimal interaction between children and staff, which she said goes beyond the state’s rules.

Wisconsin law requires one staff member to be assigned to no more than four children ages zero to two at one time.  For children ages two to two and a half, the number increases to six.  And for children ages two and a half to three, one staff member can watch as many as eight children.

Kruse plans to employ three staff members for every eight children during any given day.   The lead teacher will have a bachelor's degree in early childhood education or a related field, another staff member will have an associate's degree, and a third will work as an assistant.

“The state minimums, in my opinion, just aren't good enough,” Kruse said.

Kruse said she will implement an individualized curriculum based on the ability of each child.  Additionally, UW-Madison's School of Human Ecology will continue its working relationship with Kruse by implementing mindfulness based stress reduction exercises for students, staff and parents.     

Enthusiasm is in no short supply, but funding is a different story, Kruse said.  She estimates it will cost $14,000 per child annually to provide part-time care, and an additional $10,000 for full-time care.  And while many families at the bottom of the economic scale qualify for Wisconsin Shares, a state program that provides low-income families with subsidies for child care, Kruse said it is the families in the middle who are burdened the most.

She said many families work their way into a place of financial independence, but it is often accompanied with unintended consequences. 

“They get a dollar an hour raise at work and suddenly they don't qualify for anything,” Kruse said.  “So you get 40 extra dollars a week, but then your childcare bill quadruples.”

Those are the families that Kruse said will be most difficult to fund.  She is seeking donations for scholarship money to help parents meet their copays. 

Kruse said she has already received a grant from Early Head Start, a federal program  that provides support for organizations and families who provide care for children.  Additionally, Bethany United Methodist Church will offer its facilities for one dollar per month for the first four months, and then raise the price to $2,000 per month after that.

“For the first three and a half years, they won't even break even by having us in the building,” Kruse said.

The high start-up costs has left little money in the budget for Kruse's salary.  In fact, she will earn one dollar the first year she is in business.

But Kruse said she is in a “good place” in her life to take on this challenge, and said she is excited about her center's potential to positively impact Madison's children.

“If I'm going to do anything in my life, I want it to be serving and protecting kids,” she said...  “In the playing field, everybody's the same.  It's a place to play and be safe.  I want children to have that opportunity from all over our city.”