ADDISON COUNTY — Securing a childcare spot can still be a daunting proposition for new parents and recent transplants, as local centers are pretty much full and compiling waiting lists.

But that could soon change.

The recent launch of the Red Clover Children’s Center, a major expansion of the Otter Creek Child Center (OCCC), and planned growth at the Mary Johnson Children’s Center (MJCC) are justifying new hope and peace of mind for Addison County parents.

In addition, The Growing Tree is a new, center-based program that will soon provide full-day, full-year preschool at the former Addison Central School building, according to Building Bright Futures. Last fall, BBF provided The Growing Tree funding that will support startup costs, helping to create 20 spots for children from age 32 months to 5 years.

The portend of new slots is on vivid display at 150 Weybridge St. in Middlebury, where construction crews are working diligently on a project that will eventually allow OCCC to accommodate 77 additional children.

“Everything is on track to be completed in early October,” OCCC Executive Director Linda January said of the project.

Subcontractors are getting ready to install plumbing, HVAC and electrical work inside the new, ADA-compliant addition, she added. In the meantime, OCCC will continue to serve 71 children off-site, at the College Street Children’s Center and the Inn on the Green, currently owned by Middlebury College — a major partner and financial sponsor of the Otter Creek center’s expansion effort.

Meanwhile, growth plans are also on the drawing board at MJCC, one of the oldest (1970) continuously operating childcare centers in Vermont. MJCC now serves 105 children, ages three months to 5 years, at its main campus (81 Water St., Middlebury), Mary Hogan Elementary School, the cooperative nursery school in 391 East Main St. in East Middlebury, and at Orwell Village School.

Executive Director Kristen Dunne said MJCC last fall added a new toddler room at its East Middlebury location and is considering a new infant space that would be added onto the Barrera Building at the center’s 81 Water St. campus.

Further fueling local childcare optimism was the opening in January of 2024 of the Red Clover Children’s Center that’s based in the Congregational Church of Middlebury. The center and its eight full-time educators serve 24 children ranging in age from six weeks through three years.

Red Clover Executive Director Tessa Dearborn said the center has no plans at this point to expand, but the demand is certainly there. She confirmed a waiting list of 163. Dearborn stressed admissions aren’t necessarily predicated on first-come first-served, as children are divided into different age groups. For example, while the center at a given time might not have a vacancy for an infant, it might have capacity to serve a three-year-old for a short while until that child transitions to a preschool.

And clearly there is momentum to keep growing centers. Last week the organization First Children’s Finance VT announced that another Addison County Early Child Education center would be getting a Make Way for Kids Infant/Toddler Capacity Building Grant. These grants support Vermont’s early childhood entrepreneurs in addressing the state’s critical need for high-quality, affordable childcare — last year supporting the creation of more than 750 childcare slots and 225 new jobs across Vermont.

In the latest round of grants, 22 projects in nine counties were awarded a total of $543,000. Among them was the Starksboro Cooperative Preschool.