Lincoln Uinta Child Development Center–Evanston is one of six child development centers in Lincoln County and Uinta County. Uinta County is home to the Bridger Valley Child Development Center (in Mountain View) and the Evanston branch of LUCDA. Other regional offices are in Kemmerer, Afton, Thayne and Alpine. 

The centers are run by the private non-profit organization Lincoln Uinta Child Development Association, which is committed to providing services to all children from birth to age 5 in Lincoln County and Uinta County. The centers are accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs.

The child development centers involve a variety of services, continually working to involve families with their children’s learning and needs to create a strong and nurturing environment where parents   are in the driver’s seat. There are different activities or approaches depending on the children, but the Evanston center’s key offerings are preschool services for kids between the ages of 3-5 years old. 

However, almost every child is welcome. LUCDA-Evanston has developmental disability programs for children with disabilities and individual education plans (IEPs) as well as for children who have fewer challenges in preparing for their school years. 

“We’re all integrated,” LUCDA-Evanston Education Coordinator Hana Norris said. “... Even though we have different programs that children can be eligible for, ... you wouldn’t be able to tell [that] ‘this child is receiving any kind of services’ or ‘this child is coming in private pay like any other preschool in town.’” 

Private pay for children costs $70 per month for two half-days a week, and free preschool is available for children with developmental delays and income-eligible children (who qualify through Head Start and TANF). 

And the center has an intervention program for even younger children as well, from infants to tots. Norris said the program for newborns to 3-year-olds is designed to help families in the home, and with individualized care, LUCDA employees visit the homes as needed. This program is sometimes used when infants and toddlers need extra guidance in learning speech, language or motor development. 

“The way they do it in the home is they’re also having the parent learn and do the same things with their child,” Norris said. 

LUCDA offers Head Start as well — a federally funded program to help preschool children learn what they need to be successful upon entering school. It focuses  on five areas:

• language and literacy

• cognition and general 

  knowledge

• physical development and 

  health

• social and emotional de-

  velopment 

• approaches to learning

Norris said the Head Start program provides an extra hour of lunch and literacy to eligible children, and LUCDA-Evanston workers make home visits as well. There are scholarships and private pay options to participate in Head Start, and it is an income eligible program. 

Early Childhood teacher Carrie Robinson sketched out a child’s typical day at LUCDA-Evanston, saying they usually come either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. Most students come in 2.5-3.5 hour blocks, depending on their program, so they are usually part of either the morning or afternoon program. 

“A child’s day starts with sign in, a writing opportunity based on the child’s prewriting skills,” Robinson shared. “Then they move on to child choice, where teachers facilitate learning through play.” 

After that, the kids have a snack and switch classrooms to go play with music and movement. The teacher also leads an interactive read-aloud, and the kids are able to play together in large group activities.

After the group play, classes split into smaller groups for a more focused and individualized learning experience with four children and a teacher. 

The day finishes with outside play time for a fun balance of learning and activity. 

“Those who attend for the 3.5 hours ... then eat lunch and participate in an extra literacy activity,” Robinson finished. 

Activities throughout the day are widely varied and play up to the kids’ interests and level. For instance, there is a sensory table with an assortment of touchable materials like sand, water, shaving cream, rice and other things. Kids have the chance to learn literacy, math, science, social studies, arts, technology and problem-solving through play, making learning fun and organic. Even just the sensory table can allow children to learn about volume, measuring, cause and effect, classification, comparison and problem-solving activities. 

LUCDA-Evanston provides other services to families as well, including developmental screenings for all children from infants to 5-year-olds, covering vision, hearing, problem-solving, social-emotional development, communication, physical skill development and more. 

Parents are invited to visit classrooms and participate in their children’s learning, since families are vital to their children’s health and growth, and LUCDA-Evanston has parent committees and activities as well. 

LUCDA-Evanston is one of 14 regional programs in the state of Wyoming to receive funding and other support from the Department of Health and Department of Education to help serve children with special needs. 

The center is located at 350 City View Drive in Suite 104 in Evanston, and those who are interested in more information can call (307) 789-7384.