Sept. 25, 2020

Walk into one of the east side’s newest child care centers, and it’s like visiting a miniature neighborhood.

A big school bus on the wall is designed to look like it’s stopping at each “house,” or classroom, while the floor is made to look like a road, and street signs lead to various themed rooms such as Picasso Place, which is the art room, or Cafe Highway, the lunch room.

Graffiti Way leads to the older kids’ room, highlighted by a graffiti-style accent wall.

That’s “because we didn’t want it to seem like a child care center,” explained Lori Johnson, owner of Encore Learning Center.

The 8,500-square-foot building at 5111 E. Rosa Parks Way is more like part education center, part entertainment venue for kids.

“It’s been such a dream of mine for so long,” said Johnson, who has spent nearly two decades in the industry and also owns Gimme-A-Break at 2425 S. Shirley Ave.

Encore serves a different market with its higher price point, Johnson acknowledged.

But that’s used to pay staff more and keep class sizes lower, she said, along with lots of extras for kids.

“We have a rock-climbing wall, a custom Lego table, a reading area with books out and a bunch of stuff we interchange throughout the week, so when they come over, they will see different things,” she said.

Outdoors, there’s a playground for 2- to 4-year-olds featuring a big gravel pit with trucks and shovels, a music wall with little mallets “so they can bang on pots and pans, and on the other side is a mud kitchen, and we have tubs of dishes we bring out with water and soap,” Johnson said.

“We have a trike path and street signs and a gas pump and are getting other things built as well.”

Older kids have a big playhouse with a kitchen set, covered picnic table area and jumbo yard games, including Jenga, corn hole and disc golf “for interaction with the kids, so they can meet friends and be inclusive of everyone at the center,” Johnson said.

Inside, there’s a wall kids can paint on, a science space and even a small arcade, which isn’t as popular yet as Johnson thought it would be because the kids prefer interactive activities, she said.

Those include special programs such as “Fix It Friday,” where kids learn how to use tools to fix objects, and appearances by a tutor who also doubles as a magician and balloon artist.

Along with child care during the day beginning with 18-month-olds, there’s an after-school program that serves up to fifth grade and goes until 7 p.m. A Saturday night program offers a game and movie night while parents take a break or go out.

“You let us know by 5 p.m. if the kids are going to be here for pizza, and we do that at 6 p.m., and at 6:45 p.m., we do a game like M&M bingo or marshmallow races – this Saturday is animal yoga – and they do crafts around those things, and then at 8:30 p.m., we have movie time and popcorn,” Johnson said.

Timing was tricky for her opening, both because of COVID-related and construction delays, which left her struggling to retain staff and losing clients who made other plans. She said it’s starting to rebound.

“With COVID, it’s been devastating, but I did get a really good staff,” she said. “They feel pride in their room, and they feel comfortable it’s set up for them to be a successful teacher. Everyone that tours needs to come in and see the center and meet the teachers and understand why we’re at a higher price point. Then they go, ‘I get it.’ ”