Why I'm building an overnight-only childcare center

Hi — welcome to the first update from Night Owl Academy.

If you've landed here you probably already know the situation: regular daycare ends at 6 PM, but a lot of us start work at 6 PM. Nurses, EMTs, firefighters, police, plant workers, hotel staff, dispatchers, security crews — the people who keep this town running after dark are also the people with the fewest options for childcare during the hours they actually work.

I've worked overnight shifts for years as a Licensed Practical Nurse, and I've watched coworkers patch it together — a relative who can stay up "just this one time," a friend with their own kids, a sitter who cancels on a Tuesday night and leaves a parent calling out of work at 5 PM. It isn't sustainable, and the kids feel it.

So that's what Night Owl Academy is being built for. Overnight-only, on purpose, designed around shift work.

Where we are right now

We've got a real building — the Education Wing of Northside Church on N Floyd Park Rd — secured for use exclusively during evening and overnight hours. We are working through zoning with the City of Rome, and Georgia DECAL licensing is the next big mountain. DECAL takes overnight care seriously, as they should, and we're doing it the slow, paperwork-heavy way that good overnight care deserves.

What you can do

If you're a family who might need overnight care, or a caregiver who feels called to overnight work, join the interest list. There's no cost and no obligation — it's how we plan capacity around real schedules and how we'll let you know the moment licensing is secured.

— Eric Kirby, LPN