Jan. 14—VALLEY, Wash. — Fourteen years ago, a pilot preschool program with nine children laid the foundation for an early learning center in the rural town of Valley.
Today, serving 80 kids a day, the center is hoping the school district will approve a crucial construction bond to meet growing needs.
“I have 17 kids sitting on a waiting list that we can’t serve, so with a larger and permanent facility, we can increase our enrollment,” said Candace Harris, the director for the early learning center.
For the last 14 years, the Valley Early Learning Center has operated from four temporary and disconnected portable classrooms, offering the rural town year-round child care, special education, transitional kindergarten and more.
However, with limited space, Candace Harris and others in the rural community are hoping residents will vote to approve an estimated $3.9 million construction bond for a 13,000-square-foot permanent early learning facility, which could increase capacity and work space by 60%.
“I think that now that we’ve got some longevity in our program, it’s proved to be a solid program that really benefits children and our community and our school,” Harris said.
One portable houses the administration office and storage, while another is designated for school-age learners (ages 5 to 12), special services, food storage and the cook’s office.
The third portable is split into two classrooms, one occupied by toddlers (with half of the space divided to include a kitchen) and the other by young preschoolers. The fourth portable is used for older preschoolers, ages 4 and 5, and is also divided into two classrooms.
Each portable accommodates approximately 18 children each day.
“We’re thankful to have a space. Most districts struggle to have space for early learning, but we’ve gone as far as we can go,” Harris said of the cramped space of each portable.
Harris and Mandi Rehn, superintendent of Valley School District, said the district’s 2005 bond is set to expire in December of this year, giving community members the ability to vote on a replacement bond measure on Feb. 11.
Harris said they have already secured a $1.5 million grant from Enterprise Community Partners and a $1.1 million grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce, totaling $2.6 million. With the help of these grants and savings from district funds, the bond would cover the remaining costs if it passes.
“We’ve had our eye on some grants over the years, but we were never really in a position as a district to be able to get a grant — we finally reached this point of growth to where we are completely at capacity,” Harris said.
In addition to limited space, the new infrastructure aims to address safety concerns in lockdown drills. Harris noted that with classrooms in separate portables, it’s difficult to ensure all are secure in an emergency.
“Everybody is pretty spread out, so when we do lockdown drills and everything too, you know, you’re supposed to lock and stay in place. So that means I can’t get here, they can’t get to each other,” Harris said referring to the other 14 people on staff. “Being in one building, in one place, would be a major improvement.”
Regardless of these issues, Harris said that, through their efforts, the early learning center earned a Level 5 from the Washington Department of Children, Youth and Families in 2024, the highest quality rating the state offers.
She believes this was an important piece to the grant application process and could help community members understand the importance of the bond.
Additionally, Rehn said Valley residents have consistently shown strong support for levies and bonds, which gives her hope that voters will support this proposal as well.
However, if the bond doesn’t pass, Rehn said they have alternative options to explore.
“Our goal is to build something even if we don’t pass the bond and build something smaller,” Rehn said.
Rehn said they plan to host a town hall meeting at Valley School for families from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Tuesday on the proposal for the new early learning facility before they vote on it next month.
The meeting will include the presentation, dinner and bingo to make it more of a “family connection event,” while they also learn about the proposal.
“I don’t know of another school district that offers year-round services for early learning and really just for the betterment of our community,” Harris said. “Our community has been really supportive … and I think it’s something that they can be proud of and have a program that is leading in the state on quality and a vision of what a school district can do.”