Early Childhood Learning Center Retrospective

Early Childhood Learning Center Retrospective

When we began the “Let the Children Come” campaign in 2011, we may not have anticipated just how many children would come—and how far this building’s influence would reach.

Ground broke for our 15,500-square-foot facility in April 2013 (pictured), and since its dedication in October 2014, the building has been full of tender babies, energetic toddlers, and curious
preschoolers—all of them hearing the gospel day after day after day: “Jesus loves you. Jesus is here with you. Jesus takes care of you. Jesus died for your sins. Jesus wants you to live with him forever.”

A staff of 12—including a called director, four called lead teachers, six teaching assistants, and an administrative
assistant—nurture and educate the children. Nearly 100 children are enrolled, and more than 50 families are on the waitlist.

A Teaching Lab

The center provides much more than care and education for area children, though. It also serves as a teaching lab for MLC student teachers. On average, 25 MLC seniors serve as student teachers every year in the center. They observe the experienced educators. They write lesson plans, teach the children, observe and assess the children’s growth, and play with purpose.

They absorb the atmosphere and adopt the culture: This is what a Christ-centered school looks and feels like.

All of this they take into their own congregations come Call Day. Some are assigned as early childhood teachers. Some as directors. And some are asked to create preschools from scratch. They’re ready.

A Consultation Center

As we expected, the center receives many visitors every year. WELS teachers and other congregational leaders come to observe our program, examine the facility layout, and watch how it all works in service to the gospel.

Early Childhood Professors Jen Mehlberg MLC ’07 and Cheryl Loomis DMLC ’77 also provide continuing (and complimentary) consulting services to congregations. Dozens of directors and teachers call and email with questions about curriculum, enrollment, staffing, marketing, facilities, parent and church relationships, government regulations, and more. Some of them know the MLC professors personally because they received their training here. Others know them simply by their reputation and expertise.