About us
A calm, honest center on the east side.
Little Lantern opened in 2012 with two rooms and eleven children. Today we care for up to 96, from first bottles to fifth-grade homework, and our founder still opens the door most mornings.
Our story
It started with a waitlist.
In 2011, Alana Brooks was an infant teacher with a baby of her own on three waitlists. Every center she toured either had no room or could not tell her when there would be. So she opened one, in a former dental office on Linden Grove Road, with two rooms and eleven children.
The rules she set then still run the place: publish the prices, tell families the truth about the waitlist, keep the rooms small, and treat teachers well enough that they stay. We have grown to eight rooms since, but we have never stopped doing those four things.
We are not part of a chain, and we do not plan to be. Decisions are made here, by people who know your child's name.
What we care about
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Calm over busy
Small groups, soft light, fewer toys out at once. Children do their best learning when the room is not loud.
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Honest answers
Real prices on the website, a real timeline for the waitlist, and a straight answer when something goes wrong.
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Teachers who stay
We pay for training, planning time and benefits, so children see the same faces year after year.
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Families as partners
You know your child best. We ask, we listen, and we follow your routines at home wherever we can.
Health and safety
How we keep children safe.
We are a licensed group child care center, inspected by the state. Licensing sets the floor. These are the habits we add on top, every day.
Read our inspection report
The latest licensing inspection is at the front desk. Ask for it on your tour, and ask us about anything in it.
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Locked front door
Keypad entry with a code for each family. Visitors are buzzed in by the office.
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Photo ID at pickup
Only adults on your pickup list, and we check ID the first time we meet them.
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Background checks
Every staff member is checked before they start and again on schedule after that.
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CPR and first aid
Every teacher is trained in infant and child CPR and first aid.
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Safe sleep for babies
Backs to sleep, empty cribs, and logged checks every 10 minutes.
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Inspection reports
Our latest licensing inspection is at the front desk. Ask to read it on your tour.
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Food allergies
Nut-aware kitchen: no peanuts or tree nuts are served. Allergy plans on file and posted in each room.
The building
Built around small rooms.
- Rooms
- 2 infant, 2 toddler, 2 preschool, 1 pre-K, 1 school-age
- Outside
- Infant lawn, toddler yard, big yard with garden beds and a bike path
- Kitchen
- Full kitchen on site, nut-aware
- Entry
- Single keypad entrance, office at the door
- Licensed for
- 96 children, 6 weeks to 12 years
Closed for nine public holidays and two staff training days a year. The full calendar goes out every August, so you can plan around it.
See what a tour coversCome see the rooms for yourself.
Tours run weekday mornings and late afternoons, or by video at lunch and after bedtime. Joining the waitlist is free.