PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — A multi-purpose center that offers daycare services, event planning and space as well as offices for businesses and organizations has now opened in the former Crow’s Nest restaurant and event center in Presque Isle.
Hillpointe Crossing, which consists of Planet Recess Educational Center, Dreams Come True Event Planning, and the Stone Ridge Event Center, is managed by Jackie Hughes and officially opened its doors on Sept. 4 after more than six months of renovations and planning. Planet Recess provides daycare services for children aged six months to 12 years and includes about 5,000 square feet of classroom space in addition to an outdoor playground.
Hughes has hired 14 staff members for the daycare and has designated classroom space for infants, toddlers and school-aged children. Curriculum is individualized for each child’s needs and can focus on fine motor skills, consonant and vowel sounds and numbers for smaller children. Other activities revolve around early literacy, math and sciences skills, social studies, and arts and crafts as well as physical activity and social skills. Teachers often work with small groups of two or three students at a time to focus on similar goals.
School-aged children typically utilize the daycare before and/or after school or throughout the day when school is not in session. Parents of infants and toddlers may drop them off for all-day programming. Throughout the year, staff also will host special events for parents such as a fall festival, Thanksgiving dinner and a Christmas program.
One Friday each month the facility also will put on a Parents’ Night Out, open to the public, where parents can enjoy a night on the town while Planet Recess staffers provide activities for children until 10 p.m.
Staff member Hillary Johnston (right) assists Hannah Basu, 5, (right corner), Jonathan Carr, 8, (front right corner), Serenity Cray, 6, and Sebastain Fulton-Brown, 4, with arts and crafts activities at the Planet Recess Educational Center on Friday, Sept. 14. Planet Recess is a daycare facility managed by Jackie Hughes that opened on Sept. 4 as part of Hillpointe Crossing, a multi-purpose center that includes Hughes’ business Dreams Come True Event Planning and the 7,000-square-foot Stone Ridge Event Center.
(Melissa Lizotte)
“We currently have 40 children enrolled in the daycare, which makes us half full, and we have the space to take in 84 children,” Hughes said. “During the day we provide breakfast, lunch and snacks and a recess period.”
She noted that the daycare is equipped with the most modern security measures, including a computer near the front entrance where families sign in and security cameras in all classrooms and overlooking the playground. There is only one door that serves as a public entrance and exit and no one can enter the classrooms without entering a four-digit code, which only parents, guardians and daycare employees know.
The 7,000-square-foot Stone Ridge Event Center features 20-foot vaulted ceilings, large tables and Chiavari chairs, and a fireplace and can hold 407 people for sit-down events or 813 people for trade shows and other large events. Thus far, the center has hosted two weddings, a celebration of life, a baby shower, birthday party and an anniversary celebration, and can also hold proms and corporate parties.
A small conference room is available for groups of 49 people or less and an additional 5,000-square-foot area with a bar is available for large parties and events. Stone Ridge has a staff of around 10 people who can provide decorating and catering services and Hughes also can hire DJs and bands for private and public functions. Office space is available for individual businesses and organizations, with a space downstairs currently being renovated for Professional Home Care Specialists, a healthcare agency owned by Randy and Lisa Michaud.
Hughes, who has three years of experience as an event planner and 20 years of experience in childcare, stated that the vast amount of space and the building’s former history as an event center made it an ideal location for giving County residents a “one-stop shop” of services.
“Our daycare provides a safe, educational space where parents never have to worry about their children and we have a clean, new space where people can hold events,” Hughes said.
Hillpointe Crossing is located at 150 Maysville Road in Presque Isle across from the Aroostook Centre Mall. For more information about any of the services offered, contact Hughes at (207) 498-0829.
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- Stone Ridge Event Center is now open as part of the multi-purpose center Hillpointe Crossing in Presque Isle and features 7,000-square-feet of space for private and public functions such as corporate parties, weddings, proms, baby showers and birthday parties. An additional 5,000-square-feet of space that includes a bar area also is available for large events. (Melissa Lizotte)
