Child Care Near By: Urban Sprouts Taking Roots in Olivette

That very interesting Scandinavian type wooden building at 9120 Olive Blvd. next to a frog pond used to be a marketing and public relations agency. New tenants have moved in and magically transformed it into the Urban Sprouts Care Center for children, ages infant to seven years old.

This is a project and vision of co-directors Ellicia Qualls and Andrea Hudson, both with strong early childhood education backgrounds.

Urban Sprouts began with its first location at 941 Midland Ave. in University City and this location in Olivette marks their second center.

“We are getting children from families mostly in Olivette, Ladue and University City plus children from family members who work around here,” said Hudson.

This week, two new 2-year-olds were welcomed to the center. Right now, the infancy and toddler program is filled to capacity.

A staff of three, plus co-directors run the center from 7 a.m.-6;30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Urban Sprout teachers play games with the children; read to them and serve them breakfast, lunch and a snack. Meals are prepared at the University City location and brought over. The youngest ones are asleep in their cribs.

“We started slowly, but we’re beginning to grow,” said Hudson. 

All of the office space at this location has been turned beautifully into different play and learning areas for the various age groups. One would never know radio and television commercials were being created at this same location, just a short time ago.