First of six incoming child care centers in Tarrant County opens in central Fort Worth

Child Care Associates celebrated on Tuesday the grand opening of its first child care center out of six in the pipeline throughout Tarrant County, which have been in the works for years after local officials pledged to invest millions of federal COVID-19 relief funding into expanding infant and toddler classrooms.

Officials with the City of Fort Worth, PNC Foundation and the Happy Baggett Fund who contributed to the development of the Child Care Studio at Riverside, located at 2400 E. First St. in Fort Worth’s Riverside neighborhood, gathered to highlight one of the community’s newest additions to the early childhood education landscape.

The center has been serving its first cohort of children since September and currently enrolls about 80 students, who are mostly infants and toddlers. The center was formerly known as the Gwendolyn C. Gragg Child Development Center.

Child Care Associates President and CEO Kara Waddell said the rebranding of this facility and other ones operated by the nonprofit organization — by using a neighborhood or street name — will make it easier for parents to find child care options when searching online. The “studio” wording is meant to emphasize the space as a place for children to express themselves through play while they learn, rather than sitting at a desk.

“This Child Care Studio is a great example of how collaboration across our community can make a difference in the lives of our youngest residents,” Waddell said. “Our community’s investment in early learning infrastructure, like Riverside, reflects our shared commitment to enriching young children’s experiences and fostering a lifelong love of learning.”

City Councilmember Jeanette Martinez said she was filled with pride to see the center come to life in her district and called it a huge asset to the community. Mayor Mattie Parker said the Child Care Studio at Riverside is a place where every parent would want to have their child enrolled.

“You want childhood to be memorable and embraced, and (that’s) something in this country I think we’re missing. I’m fully convinced that Fort Worth can be an example for the rest of the country, what it looks like to make early investments that are integrated into our community and ensuring that all of our spaces look like this one, and they’re high quality,” Parker said.

The center has three separate outdoor spaces for infants, toddlers and preschoolers designed to promote physical activity and encourage curiosity, problem-solving and developmental growth, according to officials. On Tuesday, children played in sandboxes, experimented with an interactive sound wall and painted on easels against a backdrop of the Trinity River and downtown Fort Worth skyline. Center Director Leslie Fierro said the children spend 30 to 45 minutes outdoors a day.

The outdoor space for infants is dedicated to Happy Baggett, a late developer known for bringing major mixed-use development to southeast Fort Worth. He was a longtime supporter of Child Care Associates and raised funds to create an outdoor space for infants at the Riverside center before his death. His daughter, Maggie Baggett Shori, said on Tuesday she worked for Child Care Associates for a year and couldn’t imagine a better group of people to provide children and families with early childhood services.

“The infant play area holds a special place in my heart because it reflects my father’s lifelong passion for taking care of the littlest ones in our community,” Baggett Shori said. “He believed that every child deserves a safe and nurturing space to grow and explore. This play area is a beautiful tribute to his legacy and his unwavering commitment to the well-being of babies and young children.”

The City of Fort Worth budgeted $2 million in American Rescue Plan funds toward the Child Care Studio at Riverside, according to city documents. The PNC Foundation announced in April it would be contributing funding to three of Child Care Associates’ campuses, including the Child Care Studio at Riverside, for high-quality, nature-based outdoor learning environments through its Grow Up Great program. The $500 million multi-year, bilingual initiative dedicated to helping newborns to 5-year-olds prepare for school and life, according to officials.

The addition of multiple child care centers in the community was spearheaded by the Blue Ribbon Action Committee on Child Care, an initiative led by Mayor Parker, former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley and Child Care Associates to invest American Rescue Plan funds into the child care industry still facing challenges exacerbated by the pandemic. Among its goals is to open 50 new classrooms across six facilities with the capacity to serve more than 900 young children.

The other five child care centers that are under construction by Child Care Associates and expected to open by the end of 2026 are:

• Child Care Studio at Las Vegas Trail, 8201 Calmont Ave., Fort Worth

• Stop Six Hub, 5100 block of Avenue G, Fort Worth

• City of Arlington facility, 696 N. Fielder Road, Arlington

• Tarrant County College South Campus, 5301 Campus Drive, Fort Worth

• Tarrant County College Northwest Campus, 4801 Marine Creek Parkway, Fort Worth