Gentex Corporation, in collaboration with the Outdoor Discovery Center, has launched a nature-based preschool at 3845 88th Ave. for employees’ families, responding to ongoing child care challenges in the Zeeland area.
“It started with pure desperation, quite frankly. I mean, most good ideas are born out of that,” said Gentex CEO and President Steve Downing at the ribbon cutting Friday.
Downing said child care availability and quality have long been concerns for the company’s roughly 6,000 employees.
“We’ve heard about it from employees for forever, just the lack of childcare, especially good childcare. And a limiting factor post COVID, people not being able to come back to work because they couldn’t even find childcare,” Downing said.
Gentex partnered with the Outdoor Discovery Center (ODC) to develop a solution.
“We have four other outdoor nature based early childhood programs, and we started this journey back in 2013 with our Little Hawks Discovery Preschool program. Now both Little Hawks and Dragonflies are up and running, one on the south side and the north side of town,” said ODC Chief of Early Childhood Education John Vincent.
“After doing that, we just listened to the community, listened to national trends, and know that childcare is an issue, so we’ve pushed our programming to still bring those same elements that the community loves into what a year-round, working hour type of facility could look like.”
Three years later, the result is Gentex Discovery Preschool.
“What’s really unique about the facility is each of these have an individual classroom, and literally, it’s kids only within one year of age, all in one classroom together,” Downing said.
The center features 15 licensed indoor classrooms, serving children from birth up to kindergarten. The 43,000-square-foot building emphasizes both child care and education tied to nature.
“What we know and what we've experienced, and what the research shows, is that there's definitely a tie to self regulation skills. We know being outside in nature is calming for kids, and we also know that when the children are regulated, all those other developmental outcomes are just going to rise,” said Vincent.
Each classroom has access to a fenced, licensed outdoor area, and activities normally held inside, such as group play and mud kitchens, are available in these outdoor classrooms.
The program also includes trails and nature exploration beyond the main building.
“Our programs go into the beyond. That’s what we call it, beyond the licensed area to explore, to look at the pond, see what frogs are creeping in there, see what turtles are on a log,” Vincent said.
For colder months, the preschool has a licensed indoor playscape featuring a natural climate and flowing stream.
“We took the concept of an indoor gymnasium and tried to think what’s an ODC version behind that,” Vincent said.
Downing said the center is intended as a long-term investment in the community.
"We've done a lot in the university side, definitely moving and doing a lot more work with middle school and high schoolers, helping them understand what we are, what we do, the technology that we have," explained Downing. "You gotta start even younger, and just helping people understand the experience, give them a head start in terms of education, and hopefully that pans out into a whole improvement in this community for all the kids who happen to go through our facility."
The preschool is awaiting final permits before opening to families.
“Hopefully in the next month or two, we’ll get through most of those hurdles and be open for service,” said Downing.
In the future, Gentex may open enrollment to other companies or the broader community.
“If there’s availability longer term, we’re open to the concept of partnering with other companies or the community to help make sure that it’s being taken advantage of,” Downing said.
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