HINSDALE, Mass. — Tina's Kiddie Junction is expanding its day-care program to add a new prekindergarten class this month. 

 

Owner and educator Tina Karch said the preK was a step above preschool in offering more educational programming. 

 

"PreK is like the new, honestly, first grade, and then preschool is like new kindergarten now," she said. "It's more getting ready for school. Making sure they have all their skills."

 

Karch has been teaching and caring for children for 30 years, since opening her initial day-care in 1996 and running one out of her home Dalton.

 

She opened the Hinsdale center in November 2023 with classrooms serving preschool, infant and toddler, and toddler. The new preK classroom has been under construction and will open July 14 with teacher Charity Bergeron.

 

Karch said it has always been her dream to take care of children.

 

"I just want to pass on the learning and make it a happy, enjoyable experience, because a lot of the kids that I've taken care of when they were little remember all of the wonderful things I've done with them," she said. "And it's nice to know that I gave them a foundation of a good provider, some good learning."

 

She studied at Berkshire Community College to become a preschool teacher and got her lead teacher license as well as her directors I and II license, which she has had since 2009.

 

"I'd kept the director license kind of in my back pocket as like, what am I going to want to do when I want to not be in my home anymore, and I really wanted more of a challenge," Karch said. "I wanted to just grow and use my expertise to grow."

 

When the time came, she knew someone who happened to have lots of space suitable for a day-care and preschool. 

 

Karch contacted David Duquette to see if she would be able to use the former Dan Duquette Sports Academy on Michaels Road. She used to watch his grandchildren at her day care.

 

Duquette and his brother, former Boston Red Sox General Manager Dan Duquette, had operated the sports academy for more than 15 years before closing permanently right before the pandemic.

 

Tina's Kiddie Junction opened on the 60-acre property in late 2003. 

 

"I had this dream of wanting to open a day-care center, and I felt like at that time I was ready ... I kept going back and forth. Do I want to do it? Do I not want to? So I said let's just do it. So then I found this place, and we opened it in nine weeks," Karch said.

 

Karch's next goal is to open a second location in Dalton or Pittsfield in the next five years.

 

Her day care runs year-round and currently has openings for her new preK classroom for the fall. Karch said she's looking for more qualified teachers in Early Education and Care and that it's been difficult to find them as Berkshire County has a shortage.

 

"Berkshire County definitely has a shortage of finding qualified teachers, because you can't just run a classroom. You have to qualify towards the EEC teacher, lead teacher qualified," she said, adding that finding "those people that actually have completed college or even taken classes to get them to that level is very hard."

 

As former president of the Berkshire Child Care Providers Association, she said she'd heard many reports of how difficult it was to find qualified teachers.

 

The day care is open from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; preschool and preK are 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Classes at  the day care are $50 a day and $60 a day for infants; there are no current openings for infants. Parents must pack lunch for their children since the location doesn't have a kitchen. 

 

Karch said it's important for parents to communicate about their child's needs.

 

"The biggest thing I tell all the parents here is that communication is the utmost importance to ensure that your child has an enjoyable, happy experience at my day care, because these beginning years are the foundation of their future learning," she said. "So if I provide them good experiences with good teachers and happy experiences, then that will follow them through the years."

 

Contact Karch at Mydaycare1@msn.com or 413-212-9578 for more information or a tour.