Broken Arrow Public Schools Offers Daycare For Staff

Broken Arrow Public Schools is helping its employees by opening a daycare for staff. The director says this is something that has been important to parents, especially parents who work in education.

Friday, January 13th 2023, 4:00 pm

By: Kaitlyn Deggs

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. -

Finding daycare for kids can be a tough decision for parents, but Broken Arrow Public Schools is helping its employees by opening a daycare for staff.

Tiny Tigers in Broken Arrow is filled with the kids of teachers and employees of BAPS. Kelsee Arnold is a teacher for BAPS, and drops her daughter Nora off each day before heading to a classroom of her own.

"Every day, I bring Nora here, and she is very well loved and taken care of, and it gives me a lot of peace when I'm at work, pouring into my students, knowing that she is being taken care of,” said Arnold.

Arnold says she appreciates the relationships both she and Nora have been able to form.

"Already, it's like a really unique community and so when I drop off Nora or pick her up, I'm surrounded by other people in the same profession and the same community," said Arnold.

The daycare is in the Arrow Springs Early Childhood Center, so the kids can get used to being in a classroom before heading off to Pre-K, and then elementary school. The director says this is something that has been important to parents, especially parents who work in education.

"They also enjoy the idea of the center being in a school setting, so our kids are getting exposed early on to the school experience, getting familiar with socialization, and learning language," said David Sutton, who is the BAPS B&A Connections Director.

Another goal of the daycare is to recruit more people to work in education.

"We created this daycare not only for the employees that are currently working for our district but for those who are considering the teaching profession and looking for a great place to come and be a part of," said Sutton.

Arnold says in the time Nora has been a Tiny Tiger, she has already hit so many developmental milestones.

"Tiny Tigers has such a blessing for our family to know that Nora is not only taken care of but that she's also learning,” said Arnold. “She has made so many strides this year in her development, and I attribute it to what they're doing."