CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – With many parents working more and more these days, the care of children is one of the most important businesses that takes place in our community. It is with this in mind that our Clarksvillenow.com Business Spotlight features one of those businesses, The Youth Academy.

On my recent visit to The Youth Academy I spent some time speaking with Hope Patonis one of the owners and presidents of the facility. Patonis said along with her partner, Stephanie Staats they saw a need in the community and have created a very unique early childhood development center. The Youth Academy, a three star facility opened their doors in August of 2009 and you’ll find their mission statement, inspire, encourage, excel, decorating the walls of their lobby when you enter.

When Patonis and Staats decided to build and open The Youth Academy they obtained a Small Business Administration (SBA) loan, which Patonis says was the very first SBA loan to take affect under the new laws from President Barack Obama’s administration to help small businesses. Under the new laws the two partners saved $40,000 to build and open the child development center with help from First Federal Savings Bank in Clarksville.

The Youth Academy cares for children from six weeks to 14 years of age and offers special care for youngsters from 5:30 a.m. until midnight seven days a week. Patonis talked about their extended hours and how with all of the industry, medical facilities and retail in the area many people don’t work nine to five anymore.

Talking about what people should know about The Youth Academy, Director Renee White said, “We are here for them. This facility was built and established with them in mind. We’re here to meet their needs whether they are short term needs or long term needs, and we’re here to teach their children at a very early age. Community is about us working together and supporting one another.”

“We have a wonderful Pre-K program and most of our children are reading before they go into school. We really concentrate on curriculum and preparing them for school. Pre-K is going into the school system because there’s a big gap between child care, and the school system and we’re trying to bridge that gap,” said Patonis.

Patonis talked about the state of the art facility and technology that went into The Youth Academy which includes off-site monitoring. This allows parents can pull up the room and watch their child via the internet. Patonis said it is especially nice for troops from Fort Campbell who are deployed and have the ability to see their kids while they are learning or at play.

Speaking of military families, The Youth Academy has a number of programs to help cut costs, and they accept the National Association of Child Care Resources and Referral Agency which offers financial help with day care to military families.

Along with their regular child care, The Youth Academy also offers what’s known as drop-in care on weekends and nights.

“A lot of people that just need a break on the weekend or need to go shopping and they don’t need care all of the time. They just want it for appointments or something like that. We have availability because of our size and our hours that they can drop by anytime they need us and we can usually get them in,” Patonis said.

Many exciting new things are also happening at The Youth Academy. “We’re opening a new infant toddler specialty building, and that’s going to be for six weeks through three year olds and that’s just for the toddlers and everything is going to cater to them,” Patonis said. It’s known as an Infant Toddler Environmental Rating Scale, and the facility is designed to be specialized for infants and toddlers and is expected to be open by December 1 of this year.

As the infant and toddler facility nears completion, success, education and development for children is on the mind of everyone involved with The Youth Academy. After the infant toddler building is opened, what’s currently the main building of the campus will become the Pre-K through school age building. There are also future plans for a gymnasium and water park to be built for the older youngsters.

There are currently 62 employees at Youth Academy with Early Childhood Development Certificates, Childhood Development Accreditations and Masters Degrees. All of the teachers in the Pre-K program are certified and everyone at Youth Academy is CPR and First Aid qualified. With the upcoming expansion there are plans to fill approximately 70 more positions at Youth Academy and applicants are encouraged to contact The Youth Academy for more information about employment.

When asked why parents should choose The Youth Academy, Patonis said, “We have upped the scale of child care just in the environment alone. We’ve spent money that we didn’t have to spend to do that. We’ve tried to meet the growing expectations that a parent wants for their children. Our mission statement says that, we try to inspire them we encourage them and with that I think they excel. We are multi-cultural and diverse and we meet the needs of a modern family.”

To learn more about The Youth Academy, call (931) 245-1400 or stop by 901 Professional Park Drive across the street from Gateway Medical Center. You can also visit www.youthacademyclarksville.com.  



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