Director Corchelle Mabry and her staff performed well as they prepared for the evaluation. “It’s a step in the right direction,” Mabry said. “It's only the beginning. Now we have to maintain it. I know we can do it. I have the right staff. They're willing to get the training that they need, and we'll keep it going.”
Pat Mejia, who has been working at the ELC since 1999, expressed excitement over receiving the highest grade. “We all worked very hard,” she said.
Mabry has only been director for a little over a year, but she brought a clear vision of building on past successes to improve the ELC image as more learning center than daycare. Her thirty-six years of experience in the childhood education field have prepared her well for this task.
“This is a learning center”, said Mejia. “Lessons begin at four months.”
It begins with classroom decoration. “The wall decorations need to reflect the curriculum and change with the lessons,” Mabry said.
The appeal of our facility is immediately noticeable. “It looks and smells clean,” said Cindy Mendez, who has been employed at the ELC since 2008. “It is a pleasant place to work.”
Parent Eric Estrada (not the actor) is particularly pleased by the almost daily pictures he receives of his child while at the ELC. He was initially impressed by the quality of facilities, the longevity of the staff, and the noticeable way the teachers cared about the children.
“Our original plan was to keep the baby at home with a family member. When that didn't work out, we found the ELC. Here, it feels like she's with adults who care about her as much as we do. We should have done this from the start!” said Estrada.
Loving children goes beyond just liking to be with children. “I'd rather have people here that love to do the job because anybody can come in the door and say I love children,” said Mabry. “If you love kids, you're paying attention to them.”
That’s the reason why generations have been served by the Early Learning Center. It is not unusual for someone who received care from us to return with their own children and find their teachers still here.
Faith lessons are also part of our teaching, with age-appropriate lessons that focus on God as Father, creator, and Lord of all. There is a chapel service every Wednesday in each classroom.
The ELC was established in 1970 to meet the growing need for childcare in our community as moms were entering the workforce in increasing numbers. Over the years improvements continued to be made. The building that houses the ELC was gutted and remodeled in 1989, updating the 1930s era classrooms to contemporary standards.
In 2012, the ELC began accepting vouchers from Child Care Services (CCS). These scholarships are available to help working parents who make less than a living wage and those who are searching for work or attending school. This allowed the ELC to increase the level of service to our community. Furthermore, they started accepting infants and offering after-school care, in response to community needs.
The ELC continually expands its scope to fill unmet needs. Grants from the Charity Ball Association, the Baptist Mission Foundation, Baptist Health Foundation, HEB Tournament of Champions, fundraisers, local businesses and individual donors helped them build an accessible playground where children with disabilities and typical abilities can play together. It was the first of its kind in the Southside.
Perhaps the biggest challenge came during the COVID-19 pandemic. The ELC retooled and retrained and remained open to serve the needs of parents who were essential workers. In the aftermath of COVID, many childcare centers failed to reopen, and it became difficult to find childcare workers. Grants from the Small Business Administration, the United Way, and others helped them to stay open and fill the gap that was creating a crisis across the nation.
Mabry says our next growth step is NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children) certification. The goal of NAEYC is for the early childhood profession to exemplify excellence and be recognized as performing a vital role in society.
