Finding child care is difficult in the best circumstances. During the pandemic, babysitters and teachers are all stretched thin, leaving working families nowhere to turn.
“I was a single mother, so I feel their pain,” Darlene Hampton said. “They can’t work if they don’t have child care.”
Tide Pool Kids will soon be available for children between the ages of 4.5 to 8 right off Blair Street. How soon is unknown. Darlene, her husband Mark Hampton and site director Jenna Downing are hoping by Saint Patrick’s Day. They have been waiting for months for a certificate of occupation from the Town of Friday Harbor, but permits do take time, Darlene said.
Once the certificate is in hand, TIde Pool hours will be between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m., at least to start. There are seven children currently on a waiting list, according to Darlene. The goal is to eventually have 20 children enrolled with three full-time staff members.
“I’m anxious to get going,” Darlene said, adding that there has already been a lot of interest.
While they wait, Darlene, Mark and Downing, have been working overtime creating a learning playhouse. They have already stocked the shelves with art supplies and science kits. Bonnie’s Creative Passions donated a plethora of crafting materials as the store closed.
An empty stage awaits young actors and playwrights. Across the room, the Four Seasons puppet theater is ready to put on a show.
The backyard will soon contain a sunken pirate ship. A large screen set up like a drive-in theater is also in the making.
The Hamptons ran a similar enrichment school in California. Approximately 80 children attended that school.
As they moved to San Juan Island, the couple considered themselves to be in semi-retirement. Then one day Darlene saw a for sale sign where Tina’s restaurant had been located, near the post office.
“I loved the backyard, and I just had this vision,” Darlene said.
She raced home to tell Mark, and Mark bought the building. “Mark is our landlord,” Darlene laughed. He is also the Tide Pool Kids accountant.
“I just knew we had to do this for the kids,” Darlene said, and Mark agreed. Darlene had recently listened to a presentation by the Joyce L. Sobel Family Resource Center’s executive director, Jennifer Armstrong. Armstrong illustrated some of the many needs of working families on the island, childcare was top on the list. Armstrong’s words spoke to Darlene.
According to Darlene, her biggest priority is to help working families. Darlene, Mark, and Downing have been trying to come up with creative ways to assist struggling parents. One idea included working with businesses to rehire employees that had been unable to work due to lack of child care.
Darlene became interested in working with children after the terrible experiences she and her sister had with teachers growing up, Darlene said. Darlene wanted to be someone kids felt safe with, unlike the teacher of her youth, and she wanted to help them learn and grow.
As Tide Pool Kids came together, the Hamptons began looking for a teacher. None of the prospective employees could answer a basic question, “why do you want to work with kids?”
Downing was just wrapping up her student teaching. Once the Hamptons met her, they formed a connection almost immediately.
“She is like the daughter I never had,” Darlene said.
Downing too did not have good experiences with teachers throughout her childhood. She struggled in school, she said and was left behind. As a result, math is not one of her strongest subjects.
“Its’ so ridiculous. I don’t understand why someone would want to be a teacher if they don’t even like kids,” Downing said, adding that such teachers can scar a student, and damage how they see themselves. “Children are our future, we should be building them up, helping them learn and grow.”
Most of Downing’s jobs, she said involved working with children in some capacity.
“I love seeing the look on their face when everything clicks and they just get it. There isn’t anything like it,” Downing said.
For more information visit https://tidepoolkids.com/.
