A Juneau nonprofit is looking for local childcare providers to offer after-school care at two elementary schools that lost the service in recent years. It’s part of an effort to stabilize childcare access for school-age children after the Juneau School District ended its program last year.
Funding to get the effort underway came from the Juneau Assembly. In May, it approved awarding $270,000 to Southeast Childhood Collective to sustain and open new after-school childcare programs.
Executive Director Blue Shibler says the majority of the funds went to Auke Lake Preschool – the private company that runs the child care program called Auke Lake RALLY that’s currently in three district elementary schools.
“It provided scholarships for families to attend summer RALLY at the Auke Bay site for families who would normally get childcare assistance but can’t use it because they’re not licensed yet,” she said.
Families who qualify for childcare assistance through the state must use it at a licensed facility. Auke Lake Preschool is in the process of becoming one – Shibler said the provider has submitted its application and is waiting on a site inspection.
Shibler said city funding also went to the nonprofit to offer technical assistance to providers on things like licensing paperwork.
Auke Lake Preschool took over RALLY last year after the Juneau School District decided to stop running it. RALLY is currently at three elementary schools – Auke Bay Elementary, Sítʼ Eetí Shaanáx̱ – Glacier Valley Elementary and Harborview Elementary.
Shibler said the funding has allowed Auke Bay Preschool to double its summer RALLY enrollment to 120 children and it continues to grow.
“All of that really hinged on staffing, and so we helped get their staffing numbers up so that they could take in more kids,” she said.
$60,000 of the city funding will go toward startup grants to open sites at Mendenhall River Community School, or MRCS, in the Mendenhall Valley, as well as Sayéik: Gastineau Community School in Douglas.
Sayeik’s after-school program closed in April 2025. Shibler said one provider is interested in working out of MRCS and is in contact in the district. The nonprofit is looking for another to work in Douglas. Ideally, Shibler says both schools will have programs running when the school year starts.
But long processing times for licenses means both programs likely will run without one at that time, similar to Auke Lake Preschool.
That leaves one elementary school – Kax̱dig̱oowu Héen Elementary – without a prospective child care provider on site. But Shibler says the school district told her in the spring that it wasn’t needed at the time.
“In talking with the school administration, that would be the one that maybe doesn’t need it,” she said. “We are going to explore that with them once school gets up and running. But right now, we’re focusing on these five sites instead of all six.”
The school year is scheduled to begin Aug. 20.
