Agency Details:

VA Kids Center

The mission of VA Kids Center (VAKC) is to provide high quality early care and education for the VA Hospital employees and the community. VAKC provides a NAEYC accredited program for children ages six weeks through six years; offering a home like environment with our small class size and low staff to child ratios. At VAKC, we promote each child’s individual social, emotional, physical and cognitive development while encouraging a life long love of learning.

Description:
We are affiliated with the VA Hospital but are a separate non-profit child care center providing quality early care and education to a diverse population that includes UW students, UW and VA Hospital employees and other community members. Our enrollment must have 51% federal employees according to our lease. We accept third party funding from the county and UW students who are receiving child care tuition assistance. We are licensed for thirty-eight children within five classrooms. Although the VA Hospital gives us the building to use, over 88% of the tuition parents pay is used for staff payroll. Our wage scale is lower than many other centers due to our lack of outside funding or large sponsorship. Our full-time staff are unionized and are able to elect health care coverage among other benefits. We are extremely grateful for any volunteer time and or funds that are given to us and put them to good use to benefit the families and staff we serve.

History:
VAKC was started in 1996 by a group of VA Hospital employees who wanted an on-site child care center, the center is located in what used to be the Director's house on the grounds of the VA Hospital. We were first accredited in 2002 by the National Association for the Education of Young Children and were the first Madison area center to earn re-accreditation under the new rigorous standards in 2006.

Contact person: Cindy Hogan, Executive Director, (phone), (email)

Office fax number: (608) 280-7246

Address:

2500 Overlook Terrace Bldg 4 Madison, WI 53713 (See a map)

Web Site: http://www.vakidscenter.org

Directions:

We are located on the corner of University Bay Drive and Overlook Terrace just past the VA Hospital emergency entrance, down the hill from the UW Children's Hospital, and kitty-corner from the Meeting House Unitarian Society building.

Last updated on January 12, 2010