Engaging the Community at Large

At Doorway to Learning, not only do we want to enrich our children, but everyone in the community. We would love to give access to the facility during off hours. Our Community Room was designed with engagement in mind. And our kitchen holds a world of potential.

Space Rental – Starting in fall 2025, our Community Room will be transitioning from classrooms back to a true Community Room. The space can then be rented out for weekend or evening events, allowing for some additional revenue during non-operating hours.

Kitchen Rental – We are working on what a program could look like to rent our kitchen space to professionals during our off hours to bring in more revenue. This would be similar to the NWTC Commercial Kitchen rental, which is currently at capacity.

Child and Parent Cooking Classes – We have an amazing Kids Kitchen. Parents enjoy seeing their children’s excitement at baking and cooking, however, they often feel lost at what to make or overwhelmed by the mess it makes in their home kitchen. Our classes would allow both parents and children to enjoy the class while learning more about cooking and spending quality time together.

Adult and Date-Night Cooking Classes – Caring for children is more than focusing on the child, we must also help parents and guardians be at their best. That means ensuring families have adult activities and outings to fill their own energy tanks. We would love the opportunity to hold various adult-only events including cooking classes, book clubs, game night, etc.

Play Groups – We would love to offer stay-at-home families a weekly playgroup so they could have access to our Community Room, educational materials and toys, and connect with other families in our community as well as the staff of our center. It could help decrease burnout for those families, while introducing them to our facility and staff — leading to increased comfort and interest in part-time or full-time care of these families return to the workforce.

Stay At Home Support – Beyond the weekly playgroup, we would provide a weekly theme and activities to families based on their children’s ages and developmental abilities. This would be subscription-based, providing additional revenue opportunities, while giving exhausted parents the convenience of not having to search out activities, art projects, and outings and ensuring children are engaging in appropriate learning activities.