Jamestown Schools Recruit Staff to Enroll in New Little Blue Jays Nest

Jamestown Public Schools launched a targeted effort to enroll faculty and staff in the district’s new child care center after initial uptake lagged, officials said. The Little Blue Jays Nest, located in the James Valley Career and Technology Center, opened with funding from a $500,000 Regional Workforce Impact Program grant and operates under state licensing.

“It was very surprising to people, almost to a place where we had to go out and actively be recruiting for two reasons,” said Rob Lech, superintendent of Jamestown Public Schools. Lt. Gov. Michelle Strinden and state officials toured the James Valley facility on Jan. 15 and met with Lech and center administrators to review the program and its goals.

The Little Blue Jays Nest is licensed by the North Dakota Department of Health and Human Services Early Childhood Licensing Unit and is intended primarily for Jamestown Public Schools employees. The facility can serve up to eight infants, 15 toddlers and 20 prekindergarten children. Staffing varies with ratios, employing four to six adults on any given shift.

District leaders built the Nest to address a twofold problem: immediate child care availability for school employees and longer term retention of staff. The district subsidizes care by contributing $300 per month for faculty and staff, lowering the base monthly cost to $740 before state discounts. Jamestown also leverages the Working Parents Child Care Relief Program and the Child Care Assistance Program, which can further reduce monthly fees; depending on household income, participating staff may pay between about $47 and $440 per month.

Beyond affordability, the center is tied to the district’s Career and Technical Education offerings. Students enrolled in relevant CTE courses can work toward Child Development Associate credentials, creating a local pipeline into the early childhood workforce while giving students hands-on experience.

For Jamestown and Stutsman County, the Nest represents more than a convenience. Licensed, nearby child care for school employees reduces commute burdens, lowers family financial stress and supports continuity in classrooms. From a public health perspective, expanding access to licensed care improves child safety and developmental supports, and it reduces barriers that can push trained educators out of the workforce.

The district’s active recruitment underscores broader challenges in rural child care supply and employer-based solutions. As the Little Blue Jays Nest moves into regular operation, its enrollment patterns, effects on staff retention and role in training new early childhood workers will be measurable indicators for local education and workforce planners. Community members can expect the district to track those outcomes as the program settles into daily service and as officials evaluate whether the model could be expanded or adapted for other employers in the region.