Courtesy Maple Leaf Childcare
By Christine Graf
Construction of Maple Leaf Childcare Center’s new building at 41 Werner Road in Halfmoon is nearing completion.
The facility is tentatively scheduled to open in mid-April. It is being built by Clifton Park’s Puro Construction and financed by 1st National Bank of Scotia.
The Werner Road center will be Maple Leaf’s seventh location. They operate three centers in Malta as well as one in Guilderland, Glenville, and Rotterdam.
Six of their facilities, including the one opening in Halfmoon, are licensed to provide care for children between the ages of six months and age 12.
According to Linda Moran, there are already 60 people on the waiting list for the 24 infant spots that are available at the Werner Road location. They have not begun enrollment for the new center but expect to be taking deposits within the next month.
When the Moran’s first purchased the 4.5-acre parcel of land on Werner Road, they hoped to rehab some of the buildings that were located on the property.
“Our architects said, ‘This is not going to work for what you want to do,’” she said. “So we demolished everything. We had tremendous site work on that property. It’s a huge project. A huge investment. But the location is perfect.”
The one-story building at Werner Road was designed with safety in mind. Of Maple Leaf’s five core values, safety always comes first.
“I don’t like two floors for the safety of the kids and getting kids out safely,” said Moran.
The new location will provide care for school-aged children only. They offer before- and after-school care as well as summer programming.
Most of Maple Leaf’s facilities are completely full and have waiting lists. Infant spots are particularly hard to come by.
Along with her husband, John, Moran opened the first Maple Leaf Childcare center in Guilderland in 1991. Their foray into the day care business began in 1988 after the birth of their first child. Moran opened a licensed daycare center in their home.
Today, their children, Johnny and Katie, are adults and work in the family-owned business. Katie has a degree in education as well as a M.S. in curriculum development. She is the director of Maple Leaf’s largest location on Route 9 in Malta and will oversee the Werner Road location after it opens. Katie’s husband, Ron Dobies, works with Johnny on the operations side of the business.
Maple Leaf employs more than 200 employees and plans to hire an additional 40 employees to staff the Werner Road Location. The new childcare center will be licensed for 200 children.
Moran said they are in the process of hiring teachers, assistant teachers, and assistant directors to staff their new facility. Their directors are always promoted from within.
“We always recommend that people tour other facilities before they come to ours,” said Moran. “Ours really does set the standard. The quality of care, the quality of facility is unmatched. I’ve even been told that by my licensor when we opened up our last center. We’re a family and we care deeply about what we do. It’s evident when you see the center.”
Maple Leaf’s other core values are family, nature, discovery, and play. When discussing the value of nature, Moran said that all of their facilities have vegetable gardens where kids can plant and harvest vegetables, strawberries, and even garlic.
“It’s been an adventure—all good,” said Moran. “We’ve loved every minute of it.”
Information about Maple Leaf Childcare Centers can be found online at www.mapleleafchildcare.com. Questions regarding employment or enrollment at the new locations can be directed to the Malta 10 Hemphill Place location at 518-899-4159.