Business Spotlight: Prep & Tech Childcare

Carla Grant and Maximillian Dennison are both entrepreneurs who happen to work in very different fields.

“We both have our separate businesses,” Grant said. “I own a commercial cleaning business, and he works with Beta Builders – a free coding bootcamp for students aged 10 to 18.”

Another thing Grant and Dennison have in common is a love for children, which led them to the idea of developing a program for young kids that’s different from standard daycare. With that in mind, they collaborated to create Prep & Tech Childcare, a place for children ages 2-5 to build skills that will stretch their young minds and prepare them for later in life.

“What we wanted to do differently is incorporate [Dennison’s] computer program,” Grant said. “We also hired two teachers who can speak different languages.”

In addition to daytime supervision for parents, Prep & Tech aims to teach kids the building blocks of important life skills. Children are taught the basics of computer usage and the very simplest elements of coding. They’re also educated on the fundamentals of Spanish, French and even Swahili.

“Instead of just playing all day, we want to help prepare them for preschool,” Grant said.

When developing their plan for Prep & Tech, Grant and Dennison needed funding to help make the idea a reality. Fortunately, Grant became acquainted with Neighborhood Community Development Fund through a local speaking engagement.

“I saw [loan officer] Denise Graham-Shealey hosting a program called Motivational Mondays,” she said.

Though apprehensive at first, Grant reached out to Graham-Shealey, who was immediately enthusiastic about the idea of Prep & Tech.

“She was so helpful. She walked us through the entire program. It was just easy,” Grant said. “Without them, we wouldn’t be up and running right now.”

Though it’s been open only three months, Prep & Tech has already developed a small but loyal following. With capacity for 34 children at their current location, Grant and Dennison plan to continue to enhance operations at their inaugural location before eventually expanding further.

“Hopefully, within six months, this location will be fully committed, and then we can move on to open up another center,” Grant said.