A Riehle Good Daycare is Coming to Town
A Riehle Good Daycare is Coming to Town
Melissa Riehle launches Riehle Good Daycare in Humphrey, partnering with Homegrown Pediatrics for full-circle care.
A good daycare is hard to find, but a really good daycare is worth its weight in gold! With the news of the upcoming opening of Riehle Good Daycare in Humphrey by Melissa Anthony Riehle, local parents are ecstatic. Some may know Riehle from Ellicottville Central School as the second-grade teacher’s assistant. A caregiver by nature, she spent some time in early childhood education before deciding to take the leap into full-time childcare to fulfill a critical need that she saw for so many parents. EllicottvilleNOW caught up with Riehle in a recent phone interview for comments.
“I have always been a caregiver, so when I met my husband, got married, and moved up here about four years ago, I started working at the school and I was like, oh my gosh - this is great working with kids!” she said. “I loved it! Then in spring of last year, I started to realize that there was such a need for daycare around here, and there is only one, being Holiday Valley, so I started thinking about it and making mental notes for about six months. Finally, over the winter, I said to my husband, ‘What about this? What if I did this?’” she said. “At first, he looked at me like I had three heads, and then he realized that it would be great for me. I’m just a caregiver type of personality,” she continued. “I know that this would be a great thing for me and for the community.”
The new daycare, aptly named Riehle Good Daycare (pronounced like “really”), will be located at her home on Paradise Lane in Humphrey right over the Great Valley border, and will accommodate up to 16 children in the following age groups: four infants, eight toddlers, and four school-aged children. Breakfast and lunch will be served daily, and the menu is full of nutritious, healthy foods, according to Riehle. The plan is to make the environment as educational as possible, she said. Riehle plans to hire one full-time staffer, then depending on need, another full- or part-time employee.
“I do have separate areas - the infants are in one area and the preschoolers are in another area; I have another area for the school-aged children, but the school-aged children and toddlers are allowed to mix and interact because toddlers can learn a lot from being around the older kids,” she said.
In terms of a waitlist, Riehle said she is filling up fast. “I have quite a list already - I think about 12 children,” she said. “Once I’m able to sit down with parents and have people come out and say that they definitely want their children to come here - once I see what I have, that will make me decide if the third person needs to be part- or full-time.”
As if a new daycare in the area is not reason enough to celebrate, Riehle is teaming up with Dr. Kate Johnson, owner of Homegrown Pediatrics, who offers membership-based Direct Pediatric Care. For those unfamiliar with Dr. Kate’s work, her website, www.homegrownpeds.com, explains the various levels of direct pediatric care she provides, including her popular house calls for both sick and well visits.
“Dr. Kate has been a godsend for the community already, but when I asked her to come and do house calls when I have a sick child so parents don’t have to leave work, she climbed right onboard - she was ecstatic about the idea and put some information out to her clients who she knew needed daycare,” Riehle said. “If a child is sick, she could come here, so parents don’t have to leave work, or if something has already spread, she can treat the kids with parental permission,” she continued, adding that the home call service will allow children with minor noncommunicable illnesses to stay at daycare.
“Dr. Kate and I think it’s just so important that parents don’t have to leave work if their kids have a sniffle,” she said. “Parents do need to work, and with her expertise, the children could definitely stay and be taken care of.”
All children who attend the daycare will need to be fully immunized, and Dr. Kate will provide a health plan for members that includes Motrin or Tylenol dosing, and other supportive care.
“I just can’t wait to get opened and make a difference in these kids’ lives. I think it’s going to be an amazing experience for everybody that’s involved,” Riehle shared.
For more information on Riehle Good Daycare, contact Melissa Anthony Riehle at 814-331-7809 or melissaranthony4785@gmail.com. Riehle says to expect an open house towards the end of June and the creation of a Facebook page coming soon.