Fort Firefly is now open at 5400 Euper Lane in Fort Smith. Official Fort Firefly image.
Hey Fort Smith — if your work schedule doesn't fit the usual Monday-through-Friday daycare setup, this one is actually worth knowing about.
Fort Firefly is now open at 5400 Euper Lane in Fort Smith and is enrolling families in phases.
The early-learning center is designed for young children from infancy through age 5, but the bigger difference is who the program was built around.
Military families.
Veterans.
Police, firefighters and EMS families.
And other working families dealing with early mornings, evenings, rotating shifts or schedules that don't neatly fit traditional childcare hours.
That last part is what makes this more useful than another random daycare opening.
A lot of Fort Smith households don't work a clean 8-to-5 schedule.
We've got hospital workers pulling 12-hour shifts.
Military personnel dealing with training and drill weekends.
Police and firefighters working rotations.
Manufacturing employees.
People opening stores before sunrise or closing them late at night.
And plenty of families where the schedule changes every week.
Traditional childcare wasn't really designed around those people.
Fort Firefly says that's exactly the problem it was created to solve.
The center officially opened Aug. 3.
It serves children roughly 6 weeks through 5 years old and is licensed for up to 89 children at one time.
Organizers expect the center eventually to support roughly 150 children throughout a full day by using longer and more flexible scheduling.
Extended hours and care during military drill weekends are also part of the plan as staffing and enrollment expand.
That's an important detail.
Families shouldn't assume every extended-hour option is already operating at full capacity today.
Enrollment is being opened in phases while teachers are hired, trained and brought onboard.
But instead of forcing families into one standard schedule, the entire program is being built toward flexibility.
There's another part of this that could matter just as much as the hours.
The pricing model.
Fort Firefly follows a Department of Defense family fee schedule.
Organizers say tuition is designed so childcare costs do not exceed roughly 7% of household income per child.
That doesn't mean every household automatically pays exactly 7%.
Actual pricing and eligibility can depend on the family's circumstances.
But the basic idea is very different from simply setting one expensive market-rate daycare price and telling everybody to figure it out.
Anybody with young kids already knows how quickly childcare can become one of the biggest bills in the house.
If this model works for your household, it could potentially make a pretty big difference.
The official Fort Firefly site says the center was intentionally designed for military service members and veterans, first responders including police, fire and EMS personnel, and workforce families whose jobs require early mornings, evenings or rotating schedules.
So don't automatically read the word “Fort” and assume this is only for active-duty military families.
If your work schedule is the reason normal childcare keeps becoming a problem, it's worth contacting them and asking whether your family fits the program.
The education side is built around a Reggio-inspired approach.
In regular language, that means kids learn heavily through play, exploration, conversation, hands-on activities and interaction with their environment.
The center says it focuses on confidence, independence, language and communication skills, problem-solving, social development and preparing children for whatever comes next in school.
Hey Fort Smith — here's who should actually pay attention to this:
The nurse working 12s.
The firefighter working a rotation.
The military family dealing with drill weekends.
The parent opening a store at 5 or 6 in the morning.
The manufacturing worker changing shifts every few weeks.
Basically anybody who's tired of trying to make a normal daycare schedule fit an abnormal job schedule.
Fort Firefly is already open.
Enrollment is happening now.
And because enrollment is opening in phases, families interested in the program probably shouldn't wait until every available spot is spoken for.
The center is located at 5400 Euper Lane in Fort Smith and lists 479-431-5359 as its contact number.
Community takeaway: Fort Firefly is a new Fort Smith early-learning center serving infants through age 5 with a childcare model designed around military, veteran, first-responder and other workforce families with nontraditional schedules. The center is open at 5400 Euper Lane, enrollment is underway in phases, and organizers say extended scheduling and drill-weekend care will expand as staffing grows. Families dealing with rotating shifts or hard-to-cover work hours should probably put this one on their list before assuming traditional daycare is their only option.
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Sources: Fort Firefly — official site and enrollment information · Talk Business & Politics — Fort Firefly opening and enrollment details · AlliancEdu — program background
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