About Us
Our History
2005 – Kids’ Safari was founded and opened June 6, 2005, by the late, Linda Vial. The facility was licensed for 198 children with ten classrooms. The need of quality childcare services was high in the Cottage Grove community and on our first day, we had 97 children enrolled!
2007 – Kids’ Safari added three additional classrooms to house our after-school program and Camp Safari bringing our child capacity up to 245 children served each day.
2008 – After years of planning, Kids’ Safari partnered with Monona Grove School District and began offering 4K programming in house and wrap around care. We also began running a 3K part day program.
2010 – Kids’ Safari enrolled in the NAC accreditation self-study program and begun preparing the implementation of YoungStar standards
2013 – Kids’ Safari successfully achieved NAC accreditation and a 5-Star YoungStar rating
2017 – Our loving founder, Linda Vial had passed away, and her son, Tim Vial stepped up to keep Linda’s legacy alive. Linda had a passion for working with young children and being part of each family’s “village.” Her love shined though her work not only at Kids’ Safari, but within the Village of Cottage Grove.
2020 – COVID-19 and the global pandemic had affected just about everyone. Kids’ Safari was able to remain open though much of the pandemic, only closing for two weeks the month of March. Kids’ Safari took many protective measures such as wearing masks, implementing additional cleaning, staff, and child health screenings, and limiting visitors into the center.
2021 – COVID-19 restrictions were lifted, and we were able to allow families back in our building and increase our enrollment back up to full capacity. We continue to practice preventative measures to reduce the risk and spread of any illness and limit classroom mingling.
2022 – On January 14th, 2022, after much thought and consideration, Tim Vial sold the business to Michael Thomas who has been operating the Caring Center of Verona for the past few years. We are proud to continue to be family owned and operated and continue to serve the Cottage Grove community!
Our Beliefs
Our Mission - The primary mission of Kids' Safari is to provide superior care for children in the community, ensuring that our clients (children) are nurtured in a safe and loving environment as we provide learning experiences that support each child's healthy growth in all developmental domains.
Kids' Safari's philosophy in learning is grounded in the blended perspectives of theorists Jean Piaget, John Dewey, Erik Erikson and Lev Vygotsky and early childhood educators Lilian Katz and Judy Harris Helm; it is our belief that all children are unique individuals and learn best when an opportunity is provided to them to explore, experiment, ask questions and problem solve through interactive play and learning activities. The philosophy is implemented though the teachers and staff educating the children through one-on-one play, nurturing relationships, open-ended questions and interactive learning centers that promote play.
Our Curriculum
We understand that each child develops, learns and grows at their own pace and treat each child as the unique individual that they are. Our teachers are trained in developmentally appropriate milestones and we utilize an inhouse curriculum which aligns with the Wisconsin Model for Early Learning Standards and conduct weekly observations, quarterly assessments and plan based on the children's interests.
We strive to create a partnership with each family and host parent-teacher conference twice a year to check in with any concerns or questions you may have about your child's development and give each family the opportunity to review their child's portfolio and progress in our center.
Daily highlights are sent home via our Procare App to show you what we've been working on!