SALLISAW, Okla. — Cherokee Nation leaders gathered with more than 200 Sallisaw community members to celebrate the grand opening of the tribe’s new $24 million dollar Child Development Center on May 28.
“I’m just elated to see this CDC facility come to fruition because Cherokee families deserve to send their children to state-of-the-art facilities, where they know their children will be safe and have the opportunity to learn important life skills at an early age,” Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. “An investment into our youth is never a dollar wasted and the Cherokee Nation is committed to continue investing in opportunities for our Cherokee youth and families where we can.”
The new facility is more than 32,000-square-foot and designed to serve more than 100 children, ranging in ages from 6 weeks old to 12 years old. More than 10 classrooms, two large play areas, classroom pods, a kitchen, safe room, gross motor skills room and other amenities are included in the building.
“What a blessing it is today to be in my hometown and celebrate the opening of this beautiful building,” Deputy Chief Bryan Warner said. “Investing in our youngest citizens and their families is one of the best ways we can strengthen our Cherokee communities for generations to come. I’m thrilled to see this facility thrive, as I know it will help so many families in the area with childcare needs.”
In 2022, Chief Hoskin created the Early Childhood Education Task Force to identify areas of opportunity regarding early childcare within the Cherokee Nation Reservation. Later that year, the task force presented their findings of shortages in early childhood education in several areas, including Sequoyah County. Several initiatives were created by Chief Hoskin and Deputy Chief Warner in response to the task force’s analysis, including a 35% pay increase for the tribe’s early childcare workforce and constructing a new childcare center in Rogers and Sequoyah County and more.
The Hoskin/Warner administration, with the help of the Council of the Cherokee Nation, has invested $157 million dollars into childhood education and childcare combined over their tenure.
The completion of the Sallisaw CDC facility has added more than 50 jobs in the Sallisaw community.
“Anytime we can address childcare needs within our Cherokee communities, we all benefit. We want young Cherokees to have access to state-of-the-art opportunities, and this beautiful new facility will serve Cherokee families in the Sallisaw area for many years to come,” District 6 Councilor Daryl Legg said.
The Sallisaw Child Development Center will begin opening in phases this summer.
“Thank you to Chief Hoskin, Deputy Chief Warner, the council, the cabinet members and to our staff who all made this happen,” Human Services Executive Director Brittany Denny-Davis said. “Opening this childcare center means more than just opening doors, it means creating opportunity, it means creating hope and support for our families across the community. May this center always be filled with a place of laughter, a place of learning, a place to grow, but most of all a place of love.”
The tribe currently operates an additional three Child Development Center’s in Tahlequah, Stilwell and Pryor with another being constructed in Catoosa.