Sprouts Early Learning Academy

10/09/2026

Carlisle’s story made the news! 🌱

Thank you to KCCI for sharing how our community came together to get local childcare back open during the water outage. We’re so proud of our director, Paige, for leading the way, and grateful to every partner who helped write a plan where none existed.

Give it a watch, and thank you, Carlisle, for showing what’s possible when we work together. 💚

A water order shut down this Carlisle child care center last week. Now it's back open and staff are taking extra care with sanitation.

10/08/2026

Sprouts is open again. Here's how we got here. 🌱

When Carlisle's water tower began draining last week, our town lost running water and every licensed childcare center had to close. We asked the City, the state, the Fire Marshal, and public health officials what it would take to reopen safely. No one had an answer, because no one had faced this before.

So we stopped waiting for a plan and wrote one.

Carlisle's three licensed centers, Sprouts Early Learning Academy, School Street Scholars Daycare, and Wildcat ABC, met with the mayor, police chief, and fire chief to shape a proposal for the state. We're proud of how this community pulled together.

Leading the way was our founder and director, Paige Berg. She spent full days on the phone with city, county, and state agencies, drew on her connections from the Early Childhood Iowa State Board, and drafted both the proposal and the Temporary Emergency Water Operations Plan that Warren County Public Health and Iowa HHS approved. She also shared her family communications with the other centers, so every parent in Carlisle would get the same clear message. Her right-hand man? Baby Bennett, home from the NICU and already a veteran of his first meeting in the city council chambers. 💚

Paige's hope is that this plan becomes a starting point for any community facing an emergency without a precedent. When there's no path, she builds one, and we're so proud of her.

Thank you to the City of Carlisle, Carlisle Public Works, Warren County Public Health, Iowa HHS, and the Fire Marshal's Office for working with us, to School Street Scholars for helping bring potable water to our sites, and to every local partner who showed up. And to our Sprouts families, thank you for your patience, your grace, and your trust. We are so glad to have your little ones back.

With gratitude,
The Sprouts Team

10/01/2026

💧 WATER OUTAGE UPDATE — SPROUTS WILL BE CLOSED TOMORROW, FRIDAY, OCTOBER 2ND

Although City crews were able to repair a main leak overnight, unfortunately the water issue in Carlisle is still ongoing. At this time, we remain without water and do not have an estimate for when service will be fully restored.

Because we are unable to safely provide care without access to running water, Sprouts will be closed tomorrow, Friday, October 2nd.

This decision did not come lightly. We know how difficult unexpected closures are for our families, but ultimately this is a decision we have to make out of necessity for the health and safety of the children in our care. With no estimated restoration time, we also wanted to make this decision as early as possible so families have ample time to make alternate childcare arrangements for tomorrow.

We also want to give a HUGE thank you to our local City crews who worked throughout the night and are back at it again today, working in rainy conditions to identify and resolve the remaining issue. We appreciate the long hours and hard work being put in to get water restored to our community! ❤️

If your family is in need of water, water distribution centers are currently available at the Carlisle Middle School and Carlisle High School.

Thank you for your continued patience and understanding. We are hopeful this issue is resolved soon and we can welcome everyone back to Sprouts! 💚

09/30/2026

UPDATE: Sprouts will be CLOSED tomorrow, Thursday, October 1st.

Unfortunately, the water main break in Carlisle has not been resolved, and the Carlisle schools have now announced that they will also be closed tomorrow due to the lack of water.

Because we cannot safely operate without running water, Sprouts will be closed tomorrow, October 1st.

09/30/2026

I’ve started some half days back in the office with my newest little assistant. He’s cute, keeps me company, and sleeps through most of our meetings (but somehow manages to be up all night). 😂

His work ethic could use some improvement, but morale is at an all-time high. 🥰

09/27/2026

It is with incredibly heavy hearts that we share the passing of a beloved member of our Sprouts family, Kara.

Kara was truly one of those special people who was simply meant to work with children. She was gentle, patient, dependable, and had a way of making children feel safe and loved. Kara helped teach our preschool-only class, but she never hesitated to jump into our other classrooms when an extra set of hands — or an extra dose of love — was needed. Because of that, she had the opportunity to know and care for so many children throughout Sprouts.

She was a warm presence for our families, a soft place to land for her students, and the kind of coworker who was always willing to step in and help. In fact, we still use some of the qualities that came so naturally to Kara as examples when training new members of our team. She truly represented so much of what we hope a Sprouts teacher will be.

Kara’s family has incredibly generously chosen Sprouts to receive memorial donations in her honor, asking that they be used to support the children we serve in our community. We are deeply humbled to be trusted with carrying a small piece of Kara’s legacy forward.

We know there are many Sprouts families whose children were lucky enough to be loved and cared for by Kara. If you have a memory of Kara, a story from your child’s time with her, a photo, or simply a message of love or condolence, please share it in the comments or send it to us privately. We would love to gather these memories and share them with Kara’s family so they can see just how many lives she touched.

We are holding Kara’s husband, family, friends, and everyone who loved her close in our hearts. Kara mattered here. She was loved here. And she will always be part of the Sprouts family.

We are sharing Kara’s obituary below for anyone who would like to learn more about her beautiful life or find information about her services.

https://petersonfuneralservice.com/obituaries/kara-williams-2026

09/01/2026

🎉💚 WE ARE SO PROUD! 💚🎉

One of our very own Sprouts teachers, Miss Addie, was chosen for Homecoming Court! 👑✨

We are so excited to cheer her on as she represents her school and gets to experience such a special high school memory! We are so lucky to have her as part of our Sprouts family, and we couldn’t be more proud of her! 🥰

08/26/2026

Sprouts had a little visitor on the playground today!

08/24/2026

Happy first day of school! Interested in joining our team this school year, its not too late!

Apply Now!
sproutsela.com/employment-opportunities/

✨ We're a great fit for:
Former teachers | Paraeducators | Anyone with a childcare or early childhood background | People who are new to the field but serious about growing in it
At Sprouts, we don't just provide child care — we nurture curiosity, confidence, and community. Our team is tight-knit, our work is meaningful, and we take professional development seriously.
📄 Full job description at the link below. We wrote it the way we actually run our school, so it's worth a read.
📲 Ready to apply? Head to: sproutsela.com/employment-opportunities/
Know someone who'd be a great fit? Tag them or share this post - you might change someone's career path.

Thank you for your interest in joining the Sprouts Early Learning Academy team! We’re a community of educators who believe that learning should be playful, nurturing, and inspiring—for children and for teachers.

07/01/2026

☀️ What an incredible first month of summer we’ve had at Sprouts! We have packed so much fun into June, it’s been an amazing start to our summer together!

Take a look at everything we were up to in June—we can’t wait to see what the rest of the summer has in store! 💚🌱