We're four years in, and it still feels pretty special to look around Lakes Early Learning Center and see the dream we once talked about is now part of our daily life.

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For as long as Emily can remember, she has loved working with children. She spent evenings, weekends, and summers babysitting, and before she was old enough to babysit on her own, she tagged along with her older sisters. She later spent several summers nannying, including a summer in Rhode Island as a live-in nanny.

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After high school, Emily attended Central College and majored in Business and Spanish. After college, she worked as an office manager for a team of financial planners. While she enjoyed that work, the thought of working with children never really went away. She continued volunteering with children’s ministries at church and mentoring through Everybody Wins! Iowa.

After a lot of thought and prayer, Emily made the decision to change careers and became the director of an early learning center in the area. That experience confirmed what she already knew in her heart: early childhood was where she was meant to be. 

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The Feldmans live in the North Polk School District and knew firsthand how much the Polk City area needed more child care options. In 2022, Lakes Early Learning Center opened its doors.

As a family-owned and operated center, you’ll see us around often. Emily oversees the day-to-day operations of Lakes ELC and loves building relationships with children, families, and staff. She believes smiles are contagious, so even bright and early on a Monday morning, there’s a good chance you’ll find her smiling.

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Tom’s role is a little more behind the scenes. If something needs to be fixed, built, moved, repaired, or figured out, Mr. Tom is usually our guy. He helps keep Lakes ELC running and looking its best.  You might even see our kids, Holland & Sullivan, helping take care Lakes.

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This community is home to us, and we are so grateful Lakes ELC gets to be one small part of it. Over the past four years, we have welcomed so many wonderful children, families, and staff members into our Lakes ELC family. We are thankful for the trust families place in us and look forward to continuing to grow, learn, and serve this community for years to come.