T-R PHOTO BY NICK BAUR — From left to right, Abbie Helms, Dakota and Kate Weuve with their daughter, and Ellie Lehman at the newly established childcare center Blossom and Grow, located at the building where the Little Scholars Learning Center previously occupied at 713 S. 12th St.

When the sudden closure of the Little Scholars Learning Center in Marshalltown sent ripples through parent and child caregiver circles in late November of last year, Kate and Dakota Weuve watched the chaotic fallout with an empathic eye as parents scrambled to find childcare on short notice and caregivers were out of a job.

“We have a lot of family and friends around this area [enrolled in Little Scholars], and when we heard that the previous daycare shut down, it just really kind of affected us,” Kate Weuve said. “Not in the same way that it affected the teachers that were here and the parents and the kids, but we just thought, what if that was us? What would we do right before the holidays, and it was just really sad.”

After seeing parents frantically post on online searching for childcare openings, Weuve said the unexpected shutdown helped to highlight the urgent need for local childcare, and with the support of her husband Dakota, the pair resolved to step in by opening their own childcare center, Blossom and Grow.

“We knew that it was such a need in this community,” she said. “We just decided let’s help the community out and see what we can do to give back and be there.”

Over the past several weeks, the Weuves have taken over the previous Little Scholars Learning Center located at 713 S. 12th St. and revamped the childcare campus with an all-encompassing clean up of the building and an overhaul of the childcare supplies.

“We know that there is such a high need for childcare. So getting everything up and running as soon as possible is the goal,” Weuve said. “The building itself is a big project because it was really dirty. So, it wasn’t maintained very well… I think over the years, it really needed a deep clean so we’ve been working with the cleaners. They were planning on doing a one day project and now it’s turned into like a four or five day project.”

Blossom and Grow is expected to be officially open by the end of the month, and though the undertaking has taken quite a bit of elbow grease from the Weuves and their team of childcare professionals, which includes veteran daycare director Ellie Lehman and staff member Abbie Helms, Weuve says they are looking forward to providing a fruitful environment for parents, kids, and staff at their new center.

“We’re hoping to give back to them and give the families a place where they feel comfortable bringing their kids and they feel safe,” she said. “Give a fun environment for the staff and have them come to a place where they just enjoy working and being with the kids.”

The Blossom and Grow childcare philosophy stems from the positive experiences the Weuves had when they first enrolled their own child as early parents, where they had peace of mind each day knowing they were dropping their child off at a sound, prosperous learning center.

“We really want to give that to families, we want people to feel the way that we felt when we first put our daughter in a daycare,” Kate Weuve said. “Because it’s scary, you’re a new parent, or maybe you have kids, and you’ve never done daycare before – just giving them a place where their kids feel safe… They’re learning, they’re growing, they’re changing, and we want our staff to be as engaged as possible.”

Already, Blossom and Grow has been inundated with an outpour of parents in need of daily childcare.

“I’ve gotten so many emails and messages of how grateful they are that there’s a new center opening and a lot of our friends that have had kids, now they want to bring their kids here,” she said. “They didn’t have childcare anywhere else before so they would be completely new people to come here. Everyone’s been super supportive, and we’ve had a lot of great feedback.”

Blossom and Grow will be holding a community open house on March 20 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. For more information, and updates from the childcare center, see their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/people/Blossom-Grow-Childcare/100089372931246.

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Contact Nick Baur at 641-753-611 or nbaur@timesrepublican.com.