Holtville Child Development Center hosts ribbon cutting

After years of having just two then four classrooms allotted for the program, Holtville Child Development Center now has a facility all to itself.

During the ribbon cutting ceremony last Tuesday, Elmore County Schools superintendent Richard Dennis said he knows after other communities see this building, they will want something similar, and they will be looking and planning for that in the future. 

Child Development Director Terri Carrico said when the Holtville program started 15 years ago, it had two classrooms, one pre-k 3 and one pre-k 4. With the new building the program will now have eight preschool classes, four of each grade. It will also have an after-school program for kindergarten through sixth grade. 

“We are just so excited with the growth to be able to offer this resource to so many more families in the Holtville community,” Carrico said. 

Board chairman Michael Morgan thanked the elementary school staff and all those involved for housing the program throughout the years. Morgan said this program is such an asset to the community. The program has a waitlist that extends into the 2026-2027 school year with 20 families already filling the slots. 

Walter McKee with McKee and Associates, the architects of the facility, said the building luckily got started before the increase in construction cost, and for the future, they hope to see the cost go back down.

“We know it’s going to be a very important place for these kids to start their career,” McKee said. “For when they get to Holtville High School through elementary, middle and the various schools that are here.”

Between the pre-k classes and the after-school programs, the facility will serve 200 kids every day. The child development program is offered in all five communities: Holtville, Eclectic, Millbrook, Redland and Wetumpka.