Written By: Taylor Prater for The Keller Citizen
KELLER — A day-care center that its owners say will be the biggest in Texas is scheduled to open in April in Keller, complete with bowling lanes and a performance theater.
Children’s Learning Adventure, under construction at 1841 Rufe Snow Drive, northeast of North Tarrant Parkway, has more than 33,000 square feet. Assistant Director Kate Moyer said it will have room for 630 children.
The center is open to children ages 6 weeks through 12 years, and it has specialized programs for infants, toddlers, preschoolers, and before- and after-school care, company officials said.
Keller Mayor Pat McGrail said the center should bring in families from neighboring cities.
“The facility will just be fantastic,” he said. “It’s as big as City Hall. We’ve been working on getting it for about a year.
“This was exactly what we were looking for,” McGrail said. “It’s a good, quality development that will serve the needs of citizens. With so many new young families, there’s room for additional places like this, and it enhances our reputation as a place where people want to live.” Councilman Doug Miller also advocated bringing the facility to the city.
“Children’s Learning Adventure is a great example of the quality commercial development this City Council has worked hard to attract over the past few years,” he said. “It’s a beautiful building that features amenities I think our families will really enjoy, and I look forward to watching them succeed here in Keller.”
The center will also feature a computer lab, a television studio, a garden, a library, a gym, and “culinary and homework study coves,” said Rick Sodja, CEO of Children’s Learning Adventure.
“Our approach is much closer to that of a private school than your typical child-care center,” he said. “Children have specific learning opportunities in each of [the center’s] specialty rooms.”
The curriculum, called Lifetime Adventures, focuses on physical growth and cognitive and social-emotional development, and it incorporates the family into learning. Children can interact with peers and adults while engaging in real-life experiences, according to the website. Teachers are trained in child development and will have education specialists to assist them, Sodja said. “We are looking for loving, energetic teachers who want to make a difference,” Sodja said.
The center will have an advanced security system with a front-door fingerprint scanner and a personal identification number for parents. Parents also must log in to a computer for drop-off and pickup and can watch their child’s progress through 10 monitors at the front desk.
Sodja would not discuss the cost of attending the center, and no information is available on the Children’s Learning Adventure website.
The company has 14 other locations in the state, including in Coppell and Plano. Sodja said the center chose Keller because of the high demand for quality school programs.