RUPERT, WV (WOAY) – The Meadow River Valley Early Childhood Learning Center, known as the Marvel Center, in Rupert is now enrolling.
This fall will begin their first year as they have moved into buildings onto the old Rupert Elementary School campus.
“We are now enrolling, so we’ll be enrolling until August 31st and then it will be based on how many positions we have left,” Executive Director Cari Harper said.
It will provide childcare, early childhood learning and after school programs to the kids in the area.
The Marvel Center has taken the three back buildings of the old Rupert Elementary campus and have turned them into classrooms, offices, playrooms, a nursery and a cafeteria.
Not only is this considered a major win for the community in its use of empty space but Marvel Center Board Member David Lumsden says it is also filling a childcare, early learning and after school program void.
“There is no childcare in the Meadow River Valley. Folks have to take their kids, unless it’s in an individual’s home, over to Lewisburg. And they drive right through here if they’re coming from Rainelle or Quinwood out to the interstate to get to their jobs, so the location’s perfect for this kind of thing. Centrally located,” he said.
The center is hoping to enroll 30 kids for the fall between the ages of 6 weeks and 12 years old.
It will be a childcare center for children aged 6 weeks to 2 years old. From there, the children will be introduced to the the Greenbrier County Schools creative curriculum to get them ready for school.
Then, it will become an after school program once they start K-12 schooling.
The facility is grant-funded and will be subsidized through Mountain Heart, so it will be accessible and affordable.
This is part of the Meadow River Valley Association’s mission to repurpose the old school and use its facilities to form the Meadow River Valley Community Center.
The Marvel Center is hoping to involve the whole family using their space for parent classes and even serve a free monthly family meal as they hope to become the heart of the community.
“We’re hoping to really open our doors, open our arms, be a center for love and kindness and really just take these children and give them a safe space, a space where they can play and they can grow and they don’t have to worry about all of the worries of the world and worry about what’s going on,” Harper said.
If you are interested in enrolling you can check out the Marvel Center’s Facebook page for further information and their contact info.
The first day is set for August 31.
