A new year-round infant and toddler childcare program has opened at St. Agnes School in Lake Placid. (Photo provided)

LAKE PLACID — A new year-round infant and toddler childcare program has opened at St. Agnes School in Lake Placid. Earlier this year, First Steps, an organization dedicated to expanding access to affordable childcare in North Elba, partnered with St. Agnes, a local pre-and primary school, to launch a high-quality program designed to better support working parents, strengthen the local workforce, and serve the broader community.

This program provides essential infrastructure that helps sustain a vibrant and resilient community –making it possible for both current and new residents to call North Elba home, while ensuring Lake Placid remains a special place that continues to be both a thriving community and attractive to visitors.

“We have developed a best-practices program that meets the daytime care needs of babies in their first three years, and we have transformed three classrooms into thoughtfully designed spaces for 22 infants and toddlers, and their caregivers,” said St. Agnes Principal Katie Turner. “As Lake Placid’s early elementary learning center with children ages three to grade three, and a universal pre-kindergarten site for the Lake Placid Central School District, this expansion, and the partnership with First Steps, makes good sense.”

The project was made possible by supporters in the community, Turner said.

Grants from the Town of North Elba, North Elba LEAF, Adirondack Community Foundation, Cloudsplitter Foundation, and the Lake Placid Education Foundation provided start-up funding.

Additionally, several generous gifts from St. Agnes parishioners and First Steps supporters were vital to the project, according to Turner. The Uihlein Foundation has also made a substantial contribution to establish an endowment fund and is committed to a final contribution once the endowment is close to meeting its goal. This is an important step that will help sustain efforts to meet the community’s child care needs into the future.

Turner said The First Steps Committee, including the Town of North Elba, Village of Lake Placid, The Lake Placid Central School, The Rotary Club of Lake Placid and supportive community members, are grateful to all who have helped the effort to get this critical resource in place for our community. Turner said the group realizes this is just a start and that the need for childcare places is greater than these 22 slots. Ongoing contributions and support will help ensure sustainability and affordable access for local families.

Current tuition is set at a level that is in line with childcare fees in the community, but is well below what is needed to meet costs, particularly for lower age groups that need a higher staff-to-child ratio. First Steps continues to raise funds to fill that financial gap and keep the current program affordable. Anyone interested in supporting these efforts is encouraged to reach out to hbreen@northelba.org or visit tinyurl.com/yw4ke8da.