Little Scholars offers child care rooted in respect and emotional well-being

At Little Scholars Development Center, owner and founder Kerra Bower knows that properly educating and caring for students requires understanding each child as an individual and giving teachers tools and support to meet their needs.

As a full-service child care center in Spokane, Washington, serving kids ages 4 weeks to 12 years, Little Scholars’ student population comes from all over the city and brings together families of varying cultures, family structures and socioeconomic statuses. Bower created her center with the idea of supporting and celebrating this diversity by hiring staff who represent those they serve and training them on how to work with these communities.

Little Scholars Development Center brought in behavioral health specialists to support staff in that goal, and specifically in how to care for themselves during the stress of the day, both in and out of the center. Staff have seen great success in helping students understand their emotions, learn how to ask for help and develop tools for future success, such as with Lisa Dellino’s daughter in this video.

Bower’s next step is to develop her second location — Raze Early Learning and Development Center. She was awarded a $1 million grant toward Raze and hopes to open later in 2024. The idea for Raze followed a 2019 Washington Department of Commerce study that found Black American students in Spokane were some of the most underserved in the state when it came to early childhood education. Raze will focus on developing an early learning program that highlights the shared experiences of the community through the lens of the Black American.

Learn more about how Little Scholars and Raze are supporting and educating staff, students and families in the Spokane community.