Daycare opens in Morgantown amid statewide childcare shortage

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (WBOY) — Over the past year, three daycare centers in Morgantown alone have closed their doors, leaving 226 students without a provider. However, a newcomer to West Virginia's childcare scene is optimistic about its future.

Morgantown Child Care , off of Green Bag Road, has officially opened its doors amid what some have called a statewide childcare crisis and is looking to train kids using the Reggio Emilia approach.

This center will be owner and director Jessica Barnhart's fourth daycare, as she operates three others in Pennsylvania.

Barnhart said she's noticed a significant difference in West Virginia and Pennsylvania regulations and said that West Virginia requires a lot more qualifications for classroom staff. Barnhart currently has five employees.

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Morgantown Child Care's facility is equipped to handle 52 students in total with age ranges between six weeks to school-age children.

The biggest issue childcare providers face is the lack of funding from the state, but Barnhart spoke with 12 News on how she's planning to tackle the situation.

"There's a lot of lack of funding unless you appropriately go for it in my opinion, and that's one thing that I'm not afraid to do. I am all for taking as many classes and courses that I need to or going to meetings or filling out reports or observations to show that we need the funding and hopefully it's there. But it is hard, it's not easy so I do think that there's a lack of funding because getting it is so incredibly challenging," said Barnhart

Morgantown Child Care is currently hiring and accepting applications for new students. You can reach out to Barnhart through the daycare's website and Facebook page .