During this past summer our board made the decision to expand and add a new infant room for 4 children. This came in reaction to a huge need in our area for more quality infant care. As a director, I was thrilled to be granted the opportunity to expand and was ready for the challenge of creating a new room from the ground up. In theory it seemed easy; plumbing, cribs, call the state (licensing), call new families … no problem! My goal was to have this room open by the start of the school year (August 29th) ... that was the plan.

Like any construction project the process slows down; and I learned quickly that we were truly at the mercy of our construction workers. We had a great team of contractors, but of course things happen: supply deliveries are delayed, one of our workers experienced an injury that took him off the project for 4 days, required inspections were delayed due to scheduling ... and THEN came Hurricane Irene which put a large part of our community in the dark for up to 5 days.

With a little patience and a lot of hard work … our new infant room was complete and our state licensing department approved it with flying colors. Our thoroughness and attention to detail actually made for a pleasant visit. Our hard work and patience had paid off and we were able to open our new room the week of September 19th.

It was a proud moment to take a look at this new room completed. Fresh paint, new cribs, welcoming posters and photos on the wall and a very excited staff member all came together to make a room that is simply precious. Click here to view additional pictures. Enjoy!

Sidenote: the color of the wall paint is called “cuddle”….how perfect!

Have you ever expanded or setup a classroom from the ground up? What things did you learn in the process?