A Dearborn day care has been updated and looks to grow, just months after the future looked murky.
Kids Kastle, located at 704 Maple Leaf, was sold to Don and Karen Sams earlier this year from the late Pam Howe, who had owned the business since 2001. Prior to owning the building, Howe worked for then-TLC Daycare, which opened in 1988.
“We stepped in to save it from closure,” said Don Sams, who retired from American Airlines in 2008. “We have done a tremendous amount of improvements to make it a much better place.”
The Sams have updated or upgraded a lot of things at the daycare, from painting the outside, to new LED lights, to installing a heat pump system, to adding a security system— that means no one can enter without a code.
The day care is licensed to have up to 68 children. The two-story location features two playgrounds separated by age range, a multipurpose room, a 2-to-4-year-old room and a nursery room, which will have eight new babies in the next two months.
Three of the day care’s long-time employees are still there, with a combined 65 years at that location.
The staff also includes the Sams’ granddaughters, Chelsi and Kenzie.
The day care is open from 6:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Students in North Platte School District could be picked up and dropped off at the day care.
The school is currently enrolling for preschool for ages two- to five-years-old, which runs from 8 to 11 a.m., Monday to Friday. Due to the influx of babies in the upcoming months, the day care is also looking to hire two caregivers to work with infant/toddlers and the two-to-four-year-old groups.