History

The Caring Center was begun in 1972 as a part day educational preschool called "Happy Day Nursery."

It was founded by Thelma Peters, a third grade teacher from Verona, and Diane Peters, then a senior in education at the University of Wisconsin . The original facility was a rented classroom in the St. Andrew's educational building. The program later moved to a small house.

In 1982, Diane Peters took over as director of Happy Day Nursery. The following year, the need became apparent for a full time program and a facility which could accommodate this growth. The search began for a larger building, and the name was changed to more accurately reflect the new scope of services offered, such as the full day program, and shortly after, a kindergarten age program. Happy Day Nursery became "The Caring Center."

In 1984, the business opened at its present location. Labor Day of that year brought further expansion as a new classroom opened to meet the needs of our parents. During this next year, the second floor was added to the main building to provide additional space.

In 1986, The Caring Center began a separate school-age program for children from first through fifth grade. As this program experienced continued growth, 1987 brought the construction of a completely new building behind the original structure. This provided space for the part day preschool program and the school-age program.

The adjacent round building was remodeled in 1989 and offered part-day programs for two year olds. Also in 1989, the upstairs of the back building was completed and now offers a game room for school-agers, and a quiet room for reading, homework, or just enjoying some peaceful time after a busy school day.

During the fall of 1992, we celebrated our 20th anniversary of serving Verona area families.

In the spring of 1994, Regina Kane, a member of the staff since 1987, was named as the Center's administrator. Diane Peters has continued her association with The Caring Center as the company president.

In the summer of 1995 we were pleased to announce the opening of a full day program for two year olds. While we ended our part day program for two's, we were again responding to the changing needs of the community.

In the fall of 2007, The Caring Center introduced Verona to Montessori programming with the addition of Verona Montessori House. This program, which features classes for a mixed group of 3-6 year olds, meets in the upstairs of our main building. Montessori is a wonderful approach to education, and we are proud to offer this option to our families in addition to our traditional programs. Montessori classes are available mornings or may be extended until 3:00 during the school year.

As Verona has been growing, our center has expanded our after school programs to accommodate the need for quality programs designed specifically for these busy ages. Parents can be at work with the peace of mind of knowing their children have a variety of constructive activities and caring staff available to them.

In the over 35 years that we have served the children and families of Verona , there have been a number of changes. We look forward to continuing to meet the wide variety of needs for high quality, educational children's programming in the Verona area.

The Caring Center is licensed by the state of Wisconsin . Our center also has had a long-term membership with the Wisconsin Child Care Administrators Association. (WCCAA) Our administrator frequently serves on the board of this state-wide organization which promotes quality programming for children.