SonShine Park, the daycare ministry at First Baptist Church in Foley, is continuing to expand to help meet needs they see in the community.

Michelle Byrd, director of SonShine Park, said she felt there was a great need in the community for not just daycare that they felt compelled to do something about.

“Quality childcare is certainly something that can be difficult for families to find, so we wanted to do what we could to help families in our area with that need,” Byrd said.

Byrd said the daycare opens at 7 a.m. to accept kids.

“They kind of just play and get ready for the day,” Byrd said. “At 8, our teachers get started on their 10 hour days. Usually, the same teacher the kids see when they get dropped off is their teacher throughout the day and the teacher that helps send them off in the afternoon. That kind of continuity is important for young children.”

Byrd said their program is more than just a daycare where the kids just play all day.

“There are structured times for learning and developing skills that are necessary once our kids start schooling,” Byrd said. “We have educational programs that are in line with state standards, but we also offer Bible-based activities and learning to help nurture and grow the kids’ spirituality.”

Byrd said the program’s expansion plan is already beginning.

“Hopefully as we grow, we have the three and four year olds together because we don’t have a lot of fours, but we will expand from there and make them separate classes,” Byrd said. “We’re going to add an additional baby room as well to try to make sure we’re doing everything we can to help more people.”

She added that SonShine would also start offering an afterschool program to meet needs addressed there.

“Students will be offered an after school snack, homework help, club programming with experiential learning activities, free time in our well-designed academic centers as well as outdoor run time on our expansive well-shaded playground,” Byrd said. “Our program is Monday through Friday from 3-5:30 p.m. and also offers all day care in the case of school closings for teacher workdays and some holidays. Tuition cost is $40 a week with discounts for siblings.”

For more information on the daycare or afterschool programs, contact Byrd at mbyrd@fbcfoley.com or 943-1046.