09/07/2026
What began with a nine-student pilot preschool class in 2010 reached another milestone Monday, Aug. 24, as the Valley community gathered to celebrate the opening of the new Valley Early Learning Center. District officials, families, and community members attended an open house and dedication for the new approximately 13,000-square-foot facility, followed by a ribbon-cutting marking the transition from portable classrooms into a building designed specifically for the district’s early learning program.
The new center is expected to allow the program to serve approximately 140 children and provide year-round services. Valley School Board member Bill Wilson told those gathered that constructing a yearround early learning center in a small rural district represented an unusual accomplishment. “To me, this community has landed a man on the moon, all by itself,” Wilson said. Wilson credited the effort to people throughout the district and community, including VELC Director Candace Harris, the school board and local residents who supported the project. “This was a Herculean effort led by people within this community, an effort that most communities don’t even try to accomplish, let alone accomplish,” Wilson said.
Construction began last fall after Valley voters approved a bond for the new facility. The project replaces the portable classrooms where the program had operated and gives VELC considerably more room to serve children. Earlier in the construction process, Harris said she initially dreamed of having around 7,000 square feet, enough space to serve children on the program’s waiting list. Instead, the completed building is approximately 13,000 square feet.
https://www.statesmanexaminer.com/articles/early-learning-center-celebrates-new-home
