The Spark
When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Maryville City Schools was trying to stay open. But the community child care that teachers depended on was disappearing. Many of the providers our employees relied on either shut down or reduced capacity during the pandemic, including programs tailored to teachers' schedules that had operated for years. Other providers closed or reduced capacity. Director of Schools, Mike Winstead, was watching the same crisis play out that every employer in this report describes: the district was not losing teachers because they did not want to teach. It was losing them because they had nowhere to put their children. Rather than study the problem, Winstead moved. By January 2021, nine months after the pandemic began, the district had opened the Little Nest at Coulter Grove Intermediate School.
The Solution
The Little Nest is a district-operated child care program run by Maryville City Schools inside Coulter Grove Intermediate School, a 4th through 7th grade campus. Three classrooms were converted for child care use, and a new playground was built to meet DHS licensing requirements for children under age 3. The school board authorized $50,000 in startup costs. The district did not build a new facility or hire an outside operator. It used space it already had, in a building it was already maintaining and paying to heat and cool.
The program serves children from 3 months through age 5 and operates on the school-year calendar, which makes it a natural fit for teachers and classified staff on 10-month contracts. Priority enrollment goes to Maryville City Schools employees across all district schools, not just Coulter Grove. If seats remain, Blount County and Alcoa City Schools teachers, who share the same calendar, can enroll. The program currently serves approximately 35 children with a waiting list. Tuition is set at middle-of-market rates and covers 100% of staffing costs, including salaries and benefits. The district absorbs the facility costs, including utilities and maintenance, though those expenses exist whether or not the program occupies the space.
Staff quality is the differentiator. When initially opened, they tried to staff with part-time employees, similar to the after-school program. Turnover was a significant issue, so they switched to a full-time staffing model in Year 2, which has made all the difference in hiring and maintaining consistent, quality staff. Winstead says he cannot recall the last time he saw a hire form come through for a Little Nest position.
The program also creates an intergenerational dynamic across the campus. Little Nest children ride through the school in multi-seat strollers, interacting with intermediate students and teachers. Seventh graders can spend time in the child care classrooms as part of an elective. High schoolers in the district’s Future Teachers program gain hands-on experience with young children. The presence of small children in the building has become, in Winstead’s words, a huge positive for school culture.
The Results
Winstead is candid that Maryville’s strong reputation makes it difficult to isolate the child care program’s impact on recruitment and retention, because both were already strong. But the qualitative signal is unmistakable. He describes teachers who use the Little Nest reaching out to say that of all the things the district provides, this is the best thing they could imagine. The program is at capacity with a waiting list. The child care staff have had virtually zero turnover in six years. And when Winstead talks to other directors of schools across the state, his pitch is simple: if you have the space, you can provide this service and it will not require additional operating funds beyond what you are already spending on the building.
The district is already planning to expand. A major construction project is adding 48 classrooms to the high school and expanding an elementary school, which will free up space for a second district-operated Little Nest location on the other side of town. Winstead expects it would fill immediately.
THE BLUEPRINT
Investment: The school board authorized $50,000 in startup costs for playground construction and minor classroom modifications to meet DHS licensing requirements. All ongoing staffing costs, including salaries and benefits, are covered 100% through parent tuition. The district does absorb the cost of the facility itself, including utilities, heating, cooling, and maintenance, though those costs exist whether or not the child care program is in the building.
Timeline: From the pandemic shutting down community child care in March 2020 to the Little Nest opening in August 2020. Five months from decision to doors open.
Partners: None external. Maryville City Schools operates the Little Nest directly as a district program. Staff are district employees on the district salary scale with full district benefits. No outside child care operator is involved.
Key Decision: Making the program self-sustaining on staffing costs from day one. Director Winstead was clear that using taxpayer dollars to subsidize child care tuition for district employees would be difficult to justify when every family in the community is struggling with child care costs. By setting tuition at rates that cover all staffing expenses, the district created a benefit that is sustainable, defensible, and replicable at any school with available space.
Their Advice: “If you have room, you can provide a great service to your teachers and your classified staff. The positive impact it has on your staff far outweighs any inconvenience. It’s going to become the norm. Just like health insurance, it’s necessary to recruit and retain.” – Mike Winstead, Director of Schools