Our last few posts have covered the children’s spaces used for ministry inside a church building, the classrooms, activity rooms, and play areas built around Sunday mornings and midweek programs. When your church design includes a licensed childcare center or preschool, the requirements for your church design look different. Here are some of the important differences and considerations.
Childcare, Preschool, and the State Boards That Govern Them
The two terms get used loosely, but they describe different things. Childcare covers kids of all ages, from infants through school-age children needing an after-school landing spot, and it typically runs year-round. Preschool usually refers to the educational programs offered to younger children, and it typically follows the school-year calendar rather than running twelve months a year.
Both fall under your state’s childcare licensing board, and this is where church design gets more complicated than an in-house ministry space. Every state sets its own rules for square footage, staffing, and building requirements, so what applies to a church in one state may not match the requirements two states over. Before you finalize a design, check the specific rules and ratios for your state.
Sizing the Room and Staffing It: Square Footage and Ratios
Licensed spaces need more room per child than a typical church classroom. Depending on your state, plan for 30 to 35 square feet per child.
Licensed programs also come with specific teacher-child ratios. States set a maximum number of children per adult, and that number changes with age, requiring more caregivers for infants, and fewer for school-age kids. Getting this right affects how many children each classroom can serve and, in turn, the staffing and budget behind your program. We covered the specific ratio numbers in more detail in this article.
Playgrounds and Restrooms: Plan for Who Is Actually Outside
Playgrounds are typically required to provide 50 to 60 square feet per child, whether indoors or out. That number only needs to cover the children on the playground at one time, not your entire enrollment. If you send out one or two classes at a time, size the space for however many children you want outside at once.
Restrooms need to be designed to match your enrollment too, with enough fixtures for the number of children in your care. Typically, plan for one fixture for every 10 children.
Bringing an Existing Building Up to Code
State boards require that any space used for childcare or preschool meet the current building code, which means that an older wing or converted classroom may need real upgrades before it can be licensed.
Egress is usually a top concern of a building code: getting everyone out of the structure safely. Classrooms serving children 30 months and younger need an exit door leading directly outside, which rules out basements and most second floors unless sprinklers are installed.
Existing buildings often run into trouble here. Stairs may be too steep, too narrow, or there may not be enough of them. Hallways can be too narrow, and dead-end corridors, hallways leading into a cluster of classrooms with only one way in and out, are common in older layouts. Code generally will not allow more than 20 feet of dead-end hallway without a second way out. Travel distance matters too, and depending on the situation, children may only be allowed 50 to 100 feet of travel to reach an exit.
Sprinklers, Health Codes, and ADA
A few more requirements round out the list. If your program cares for more than 100 children under 30 months old, the entire building must be sprinklered. If you plan to serve hot meals, your kitchen will need to meet health department code, which may require fire suppression hoods, grease interceptors, or extra sinks. And like any public facility, your space must meet the Americans with Disabilities Act, covering everything from ramps and doorway widths to elevators, wheelchair lifts, and family restrooms.
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