HUNTERSVILLE, N.C. — As some parents send their older kids back to school, younger children may have fewer options for daycare. 

 

What You Need To Know

  • A nonprofit says there’s a lack of affordable childcare options
  • A new daycare center is opening in Huntersville
  • The Lightbridge Academy is slated to open this fall

 

Childcare Aware, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable child care, says parents who already had limited options for affordable, high-quality child care before the pandemic are facing even fewer options today. 

In North Carolina, the nonprofit points to a study by Brown University that says there’s been a 2% decline in child care programs within the state because of the pandemic; however, that number started dwindling before that. 

A new daycare center in Huntersville, slated to open this fall, is hoping to help fill that gap. 

The Lightbridge Academy is still under construction, but Center Director Dana Mazur says they’re enrolling families now, and there is already a waiting list for some ages. 

“So without even being open and enrolling in the last 18 months and marketing to get into the community, we already have a waiting list for infants, what we call 'pre-toddlers,' which is 12-24 months, our twos, our young threes, our threes and just have a few limited spaces left for our pre-K and what we call 'transitional kindergarten,' so that need was strong from the beginning,” she said. 

Mazur says she sees this need for child care, especially in the Charlotte area, where so many people are relocating and making their homes. 

“So there’s a lot of transplants,” she said. “We see people from Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey. It’s growing so fast that the need for child care enhanced completely.”

Mazur says the academy operates on extended hours to give families more options. 

“We have the extended hours from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. for those of them that work in the city if there’s traffic, and we also don’t close for a summer break or spring break,” she said. "We are always there."

Mazur says she helped open a Lightbridge Academy in New Jersey and is excited to open one in North Carolina with the hopes to help more families. 

“Touching the lives of children and teaching them and fostering their growth, but also their family becomes my family,” she said.