By MATTHEW LINDSEY

POTSDAM – Kinder Academy Preschool & Childcare Center hopes to open this spring offering childcare services and an academic program for infants to 13-year olds.

The center will be located at 6604 State Highway 56, the former home of Building Blocks Day Care. Building Blocks Day Care was forced to close Jan. 19 after its new Director Marianne Jadlos said that the center did not have enough money on hand to pay its bills and its employees.

“We hope to open May 4…we are working on the aesthetics and finer details,” said owner Kinderly Dafoe of Waddington.

Kinder Academy will be able to provide a variety of services to about 86 children, Dafoe said.

“I just want to be clear that we have no affiliation with Building Blocks Day Care. We are a whole different center with an entirely different program style,” Dafoe said.

“It was an amazing process working with officials while getting licensed.” Dafoe said.

The issues with the building weren’t as serious as it was made out to be, according to Dafoe.

Some of the offerings will include academic curriculums for infant through preschool, after school help, meals and snacks and “fun and festive” daily schedules.

“We begin teaching kids to write their name at age three…for most kids it is age four; also most can count to 100 by the time they are four. We get the children as ready as possible for school,” she said.

The center will follow state Common Core Curriculum for youngsters. They teach a phonics and thematic based curriculum for three and four-year olds.

“I will be on site, hands-on with the children and staff. We work with children on everything from their social, cognitive, emotional well-being, to math, science, English and more,” Dafoe said.

Daily activities include crafts, science explorations, singing and activities designed to improve motor skills.

Dafoe said that Kinder Academy, leasing space in the Snell building, noted that it is difficult to find a building that is ready to house a daycare.

“Finding a building that is up to code is hard…with fire codes and health codes, sometimes it is easier to build them instead of find a building” So finding an existing building was great,” she said.

Most of the remaining work to be done is room setup, equipment preparation and the “finer details” of opening a business, she said.

One thing Dafoe said one the center will add this spring is a larger, improved playground area.

“Having a fun place for the kids to play is important to me. In the North Country its cold so much of the time I like to see the kids get outside and play,” Dafoe said.

The center will operate Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and expects to staff 10 to 12 employees.

They will have applications for subsidized childcare for low-income families. There is currently open enrollment.

To contact Kinder Academy, call 274-9600, email kinderacademychildcare@yahoo.com or visit www.kinder-academy.net.

“I encourage people to visit the website to get the nuts and bolts of our program and welcome them to call me to set up an interview,” Dafoe said.