Little Sunshine daycare in Airway Heights is open to community

Little Sunshine Learning Center at 1424 South Campbell St. in Airway Heights is offering a community-driven place for child care in the West Plains. The building is where Child Haven was previously located, but has a new name and owner, Machelle Ferguson.

Ferguson has run home daycares since 2000 and found success through that outlet. She opened the Little Sunshine Learning Center in February of this year and has had a good reception so far.

"It has been a great community," Ferguson said. "It has been good for me."

Ferguson's husband had been in the Army, which made the couple move around a few times. Before being stationed in the Spokane Valley, the family was living in Moses Lake.

"Eventually my husband decided he wanted to retire here," Ferguson said.

During her 12 years in the Moses Lake School District, Ferguson worked in the school district as a Para educator for three years and then a secretary. When she moved to the Spokane area, she decided to keep working with kids, but outside the school district. That was when she decided to run a home daycare, which led to her official business in the West Plains.

Currently, there are 62 kids enrolled at Little Sunshine with three openings still available. Even with that many kids, the full 62 are never there at the same time so that the ratio of children to adults stays steady.

"We are wanting to possibly increase the number of kids allowed," Ferguson said. "We want to see what need is out there right now. We also hope to eventually extend hours that will go more into the evening."

The business also has family ties as Ferguson's daughter works for the company. Ferguson also has an original employee from her home daycare employed.

For people who are interested in their kids enrolling at Little Sunshine, Ferguson encourages them to stop by and fill out an application. The building is secure and it is set up with a system that only allows people with approved fingerprints into the facility.

The age range is also from one year old up to 13 years. An example of a price for a toddler ranges from $740 a month and Ferguson accepts state financial assistance.

"Daycare is so expensive these days," Ferguson said. "I am just here to help people and help them make a living or go to school."

Grace Pohl can be reached at [email protected].