Milestones Expands to Kalamazoo, Breaks Ground on Fourth Center

    GRAND RAPIDS, MI, April 10, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Milestones, which offers year-round programming for children from six weeks to age 12, will build a 12,000-square- foot child care center at 8101Moorsbridge Road in Portage. The groundbreaking ceremony is set to take place March 28 at 11 a.m. The center has already started taking reservations for the summer opening and plans to open its doors in early August 2017.

"We are so excited to begin construction on our fourth center in West Michigan," said Kelly Russell,
owner and manager of Milestones. "Our philosophy of child care resonates with parents who appreciate our focus on children, commitment to education and investment in safety. We've had a lot of interest from Kalamazoo-area parents who have asked us for years to open a center.

"Our new Portage center will feature state-of- the-art security options so that parents will feel confident their children are safe and happy while they are away. Our classrooms and outdoor spaces are designed to promote cognitive, physical, emotional, social and creative development for children."

The Portage Milestones center will feature:
- Low teacher to child ratios.
- Eleven classrooms designed to provide sensory stimulation.
- Spanish-language classrooms that will allow children to develop skills in English and Spanish.
- A natural playground which can be accessed through large roll-up doors, effectively bringing nature into the classroom, providing physical and developmental benefits.
- A BluePoint Alert system, which parallels the center's fire system and automatically calls the police faster than a 911 call.
- Other high-end security features such as ballistic glass and dual authentication entry security, including a bio-metric scanner.

Milestones is partnering with Secure Education Consultants and Architectural Concepts on the safety
features and design of the new center. SEC, the nation's only security provider firm comprised entirely of former U.S. Secret Service agents, will also provide multiple trainings for the 50 teachers and staff before the center's opening.

CD Barnes Construction will serve as the general contractor for the facility. "Milestones Child Development Centers have partnered with SEC in this groundbreaking integration of presidential level security and early education environment," said Jason Russell, president and CEO of secure Education Consultants. "Parents can be assured when their kids go to Milestones they are not only getting the best early childhood education but they are also in the safest child care environment that exists."

A special education teacher by training, Kelly Russell gravitated to early childhood education and started teaching pre-school after graduating college. She opened the first Milestones Child Development Center in Cascade Township in 2005.

Today, Kelly Russell and her team of 200 teachers and child care workers serve 1,100 children in centers in Belmont, Caledonia and Cascade Township. The Milestones play-based curriculum is designed to provide children with developmentally appropriate learning experiences throughout the day.

"Children are provided ample opportunities to explore their environment and expand their social and problem-solving skills," Russell said. "Our certified and degreed teachers embody the roles of facilitators, observers and evaluators while providing a warm, nurturing environment. We believe it is essential for parents, teachers and families to work as a team with the common goal of continually developing the child's knowledge and growth."

About Milestones Child Development Centers

Milestones Child Development Centers is a locally owned provider of child care centers that offer year-round programming for children from six weeks to age 12. Our play-based curriculum provides children with developmentally appropriate learning experiences throughout the day. Our partnership with Secure Education Consultants ensures our centers are the safest and most secure in the country. For more information, visit http://www.milestonescdc.com.

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