Child care center emphasizes teaching, even to youngest kids
Carter Heimerman drinks milk at Apple Ridge Academy in New Berlin. The National Avenue day care opened in February. Photo By PETER ZUZGA
New Berlin — Three-year-olds thumping a computer keyboard and toddlers playing in sunshine pouring through spacious windows are common sights at New Berlin's newest preschool and child care center.
It is the Apple Ridge Academy, located in what was once a farmhouse many years ago at 17612 W. National Ave. The academy opened last month to serve children from 6 weeks old to 12 years. By mid-April, 25 children will be enrolled, said Tammy Imme, owner and director.
Imme has been in the child care/education field for 13 years. She was a teacher for several years with the Mary Linsmeier schools in Waukesha and then became an assistant director and then a director with Mary Linsmeier.
Lessons for everyone
The Apple Ridge Academy focuses on teaching as well as child care, Imme said. It uses a curriculum that starts with infants.
The research-based curriculum differs from the Mary Linsmeier method in being project-based, she said.
For example, if the children are studying ladybugs, all the lessons for not only science but also math, language and reading tie into ladybugs.
The academy starts children as young as 3 years old on the computer.
Apple Ridge Academy is located where Kids Kampus operated for more than 20 years. Kids Kampus closed in May after a fire destroyed a barn on the property in April.
The remaining building was gutted and renovations made inside and out took three months.
"We put our heart and soul into it," Imme said.
The building is unique because it has so many windows and is so spacious, she said.
High staff ratio
The academy has four full-time teachers and plans to hire two more, she said. All are state-certified as early childhood teachers, she said.
The teacher-child ratio is one teacher for four children under age 2, one teacher for six children age 2, one for 10 children ages 3 and 4, and one for 17 children ages 5 to 12, she said. The academy is open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Apple Ridge also plans a daily summer program for ages 3 to 5.
Imme holds a bachelor's degree in psychology and sociology with a child development emphasis. She attended the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee to earn Wisconsin administrators credentials for childcare administration.
She and her husband, Chad, and their two children have lived in New Berlin for four years. They have one child at New Berlin West Middle School and another at New Berlin West High School.
More information is available at www.appleridgeacademy.com.
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