Childcare & Daycare in Bend, OR
Overview | Classrooms | Enroll | FAQ | Contact
Vet Cadets Childcare is an early childhood education center located at the VRCCO Veterinary Hospital in Bend, Oregon.
Now Enrolling – Vet Cadets provides scheduled, drop-in and after school care to our community, aiming to enrich each child’s social, intellectual, and physical development. At Vet Cadets, your child’s experience is meaningful and children are provided with opportunities to practice necessary skills through play-based learning.
The Vet Cadets teaching team is also bilingual & will implement Spanish throughout the day by identifying classroom objects, through counting, colors and through greetings and phrases.
Vet Cadets is open to the public, is ERDC certified and accepts this subsidy program.
Vet Cadets Childcare
62889 NE Oxford Ct.
Bend, Oregon 97701
Open Monday – Friday
6:45am – 5pm
Little Troopers: Toddler Group
Ages 12 months-3 years
In our toddler classroom, we encourage creative play and help children build positive peer relationships. Creating a space where all children can learn to socialize and interact with each other is a priority for our teaching team. Our lesson plans include shapes, colors, letters, art, and discovery. Toddlers will enjoy lots of hands-on learning through a variety of sensory activities. At this stage, toddlers are becoming more independent and our teaching team promotes creativity and helps teach life skills, such as hand washing, potty training, sharing with friends, and picking up toys.
Potty-Training not Required.
Kangaroos: Preschool Group
Ages 3 – 6 years
Our teaching team promotes cooperative play and problem-solving capabilities through lesson plans that teach children to use independent reasoning and develop the necessary social skills to thrive in the classroom. Lesson plans include music & movement, creative art, story time, math, letters, and monthly theme-related projects to introduce the various seasons of the year. We create learning opportunities that respect each child’s experience and provide activities to address all developmental domains: cognitive, physical, language, and social/emotional. We also help students develop the safe and appropriate behaviors that support a positive learning environment including listening skills, respecting boundaries, taking turns, problem-solving, and building peer relationships.
- Gross/Fine Motor Skills
- Sensory- touch, smell, taste and feel
- Counting/Math/Number Recognition
- Cognitive Skill Building
- Social/Emotional Awareness
- Dramatic Play
- Show & Tell on Wednesday’s
- Art on Tuesday/Thursday’s
- Music on Friday’s
- Recognizing and respecting the uniqueness and potential of all children, their families, and their cultures.
- Provide positive learning experiences appropriate to the individual developmental needs of children in care.
- We believe that it is vital to create a safe and caring environment for each child to thrive.
- Our curriculum is designed to be child centered and includes activities which foster learning opportunities in social skills, fine and gross motor skills, problem-solving, and creativity.
- Preschool classroom has a ratio of 1 teacher per 10 children
- Toddler classroom has a ratio of 1 teacher per 4 children
- The center has a capacity of 22 children
Enrollment
Care Hours 6:45am – 5pm
Nap Time 12:30pm – 2:30pm
$250 Registration Fee
If you are interested in registering your child in Vet Cadets Childcare, please fill out our childcare contact form or email the Childcare Director, Kelly-Anne MacDowell: kmacdowell@
The center director will reach out to confirm availability for your child within 10 days. If space is available, you will then fill out the child authorization form provided to you by the center. There is a $250 non-refundable materials fee at the time of registration. The center has a 60 day maximum spot holding fee at 100% of the monthly tuition, of which 50% is credited back once your child enrolls. If the center is at capacity, families may request to join the waitlist by emailing Kelly-anne: kmacdowell@vrcvetcom.
When your child is accepted into Vet Cadets, you will receive the Child Care Services Agreement & Child Care Enrollment/Admission policy to be filled out by the parent/guardian and returned. For further information or to start this enrollment process for your child, please click below.
Drop-In Care
As Available
$125 Daily Flat Fee
Drop-in care can be used same day for urgent and unforeseen situations, but space is not guaranteed due to limited capacity and ensuring the center is following classroom specific ratios. We offer drop-in opportunities for families whenever space is available.
The daily flat rate for drop-in care is $125. Families may drop off anytime before or after naptime (12:30pm – 2:30pm) during Vet Cadet’s operating hours from 6:30am – 5:00pm. We ask that families please do not drop off during nap time to avoid disturbances to the other children.
To reserve your child’s spot for drop-in care, families must email the center director, Kellyanne, at kmacdowell@vrcvet.com at least a week in advance of the date planning to use drop-in care. The likelihood of having space for your child that day is greater if you plan in advance and coordinate with the center.
Families may pick up their child at any time throughout the school day, communicating the planned pick up time with staff is helpful to have the child ready for pick up. Parents will need to fill out the child authorization form prior to drop in. To request this form, please email kmacdowell@vrcvet.com.
Payments for drop-in care
Upon requesting care, parents will receive an invitation to the childcare Brightwheel app where they will be prompted to log in to their child’s Brightwheel account and add a payment method. Parents/guardians will receive an invoice titled “drop-in rate” via Brightwheel upon requesting dates for care. Please submit this payment through the app before the scheduled date of care. The director will confirm payment is complete prior to the parent leaving the facility and before the child is left under Vet Cadet’s supervision.
A late payment fee of $5 per day will be added to any account not paid by the end of business day following care. Please inform the center no later than the morning of needing care regarding your child’s absence if there is an unforeseen circumstance, and you are no longer needing care.
First time drop-ins will have a half day trial period to determine and ensure that the child has a positive experience in this new environment. The trial period’s morning care is $65 from 8am-12pm and the afternoon care is $40, from 2:30 – 5pm.
After School Care
Care Hours 3pm – 5pm
After School Care Cost: $50/day
After school time can be hard on a parent’s schedule. Most after school programs fill up fast, our after school program is here to fill this need for our community. Please contact for more information or to register your child in after school care.
Frequently Asked Questions
Our program is open year-round with minimal closures. With VRCCO being a 24-hour hospital we understand the importance of having childcare accessible throughout the year. Our center only has 9 school closures throughout the year. Most of the centers in town sync with the Bend-La Pine school district, we do not. We are also open throughout winter break (Christmas & New Year’s Day we are closed)
No, Potty training is not required.
There is no interaction with the pets at the hospital. The childcare center is located on the second floor of the veterinary hospital, next to the administration and conference offices. Animals receiving care are located on the ground floor. We will only pass by pets while heading outside to our playground. Even then the pets will be on leads and under the care of our highly trained veterinary staff.
CHILDCARE DIRECTOR
Kelly-Anne MacDowell
Kelly-Anne has over a decade of experience in early childhood education, recently as an early childhood trauma specialist building pathways for families in need. Kelly-Anne is an advocate for teaching young minds and creating personalized experiences for each child in her care. She provides a holistic educational approach which addresses the needs of each child’s emotional, social, physical, and intellectual development. She believes that children learn best when they are engaged in experiences that are both meaningful and enjoyable.
EMAIL kmacdowell@vrcvet.com
