Fort Lewis, Wash. – Fort Lewis Child and Youth Services will celebrate the “grand opening” of the Cascade School Age Center on October 27, at 3:30 p.m. The newly-constructed center provides quality before- and after-school child care and kindergarten classes for military children at Fort Lewis enrolled in kindergarten through 5th grade.
The Cascade School Age Center has a gymnasium, eight classrooms, and three multipurpose rooms, including dance studio space, and an arts and crafts center, and a homework lab. The center had a “soft opening” at the beginning of the current school year, opening its doors to Fort Lewis children while another facility was closed for renovations.
Working military families and the demands of overseas deployments create a continuing need for quality childcare on Fort Lewis. The installation has an ongoing commitment to providing quality care opportunities for military children, and was among the first to seek national-level accreditation for its child care facilities.
The Cascade School Age Center is part of a major expansion and upgrade of child care provided on the installation, as part of the Army’s continuing commitment to meeting the needs of military families, represented by the Army Family Covenant.
Fort Lewis opened the Eileen Beaulieu Infant Toddler Child Development Center in January. The installation has plans to open another new school age services center, and four additional child development centers, by 2012.