The Greene County Early Learning Center in Jefferson turned ten years-old this month.

Director Cherie Cerveny has been with the center since it first opened in 2005 and she’s been the director for the past eight years.  The program started with 20 kids, ages two weeks to 12 years-old, and it now has grown to 108 kids.  She talks about how their program helps benefit the youth.

“(There’s) growth just in the children that attend the center, as far as, where they start to where they end up as they become school-ages.  They have worked with the (Greene County) School District.  We’ve had reports of improved DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) testing and other various areas of social development with the kids.”

Their current issue is dealing with a growing waiting list for kids wanting to enroll in the program.  Cerveny says there are 16 on their waiting list and they are maxed out of space to expand.  She notes that one solution could be if the $20 million bond passes, the Greene County School District would deed the administrative building to the early learning center, which could give the non-profit organization another three classrooms.

Cerveny adds that they are planning on an anniversary celebration, to commemorate their milestone, later this fall.