New Day Care Center Assists Families in Need

When asked why she choose , Suzi Sesti gave a simple answer.

“I was a single mom and I work late hours, until 7 p.m.,” Sesti said. “This is the only day care that would accommodate my work schedule.”

Sesti has been bringing 4-year-old Ashton to Noah's Ark for a year and a half and recently began bringing 3-month-old Haylee as well.

The newly opened branch of Noah’s Ark Academy off of West Pearce Boulevard is accommodating many parents in a much larger way. The nonprofit day care offers to help those parents who are in financial need pay for child care. 

“They understand if the payment has to be late,” Sesti said. “They’ve helped me out a lot.”

For parents like Sesti, help can be as little as letting a late payment slide or as much as taking $220 off their children’s weekly tuition.

Executive Director of Noah’s Ark Michelle Vladova said the academy is also one of the only places that takes foster children in St. Charles and Warren Counties.

Though the new building allowed Noah’s Ark to take on about 100 more children than before, Vladova said the day care’s need is even greater. Noah’s Ark is currently financially assisting 15 kids at the academy, equating to a weekly loss of $875 a week.

“When we were looking at helping just a few kids, that was doable, because we could offset it with so many other things that it would work. We’d figure it out, you know, maybe we don’t buy crayons this month,” Vladova said. “But when you are dealing with this number that we have currently, it’s not about crayons anymore.”

The number of children enrolled at Noah’s Ark Academy at the Lake Saint Louis branch reached about 140 kids last year. That’s almost three times as many kids enrolled since the academy became a nonprofit in 2008.

Vladova said most people do not realize how many families are in need in their town.

“When I presented at the , I had a handout (with statistics on the day care) for everyone. They didn’t realize the number of families and children in their neighborhood that needed help,” Vladova said. “It was definitely an eye-opening experience for them. And we need to let more people, more businesses in our community know that we, as a program, need help to continue helping kids at this rate.”

Noah’s Ark Academy in Wentzville will be hosting a food and ice cream fundraiser 11 a.m.-4 p.m. July 3. You can find out how to donate to Noah’s Ark Academy in Wentzville by clicking here.