Get to Know Precious Angels
At Precious Angels, education and learning are not just a part of our childcare philosophy, they are the heart of it. Our mission is to provide an environment that is an extension of the home, where children are our top priority.
We strive to build strong relationships with families, exceeding their expectations and, most importantly, empowering children to gain independence and social and emotional intelligence.
Precious Angels Learning Center was founded in 2002, 22 years ago by Katey Gerats and her mom, Beth Nelsen, and has been serving families in Sioux Falls ever since. Katey, who was just 19 years old at the time, had always dreamed of running a daycare and working with children.
“Katey has always loved kids,” said Beth, “I can’t remember a day she didn’t want a daycare.”
Knowing she couldn’t do it alone, Beth joined forces with Katey, and Precious Angels was born. They began in an apartment but quickly transitioned to a house they purchased to run the daycare out of.
As more families joined our community, our need for space grew. This led to the expansion of Precious Angels, with them purchasing two additional homes. The three homes were split to care for infants, toddlers, and preschoolers.
“Some parents got to the fact that they had three different drop-offs,” said Katey. “So they’re like, would you ever consider going into a building or a center?”
That sparked another change for Katey and Beth as they explored transitioning to a center. The current location of Precious Angels became available, and everything fell into place. They moved all ages into the center and have been operating out of that location ever since.
In 2013, Beth was ready to retire, and her youngest daughter, Cayla Rush, was ready to come on board. Cayla had just had her first daughter and wanted to spend time with her baby, and she knew that Precious Angels was the perfect space for her.
Cayla purchased Precious Angels from Beth and Katey in March 2013 and became the new owner and director, with Beth entering retirement and Katey taking over in the classrooms. “Katey had always been amazing with infants and wanted to continue working in the classroom,” said Cayla.
Over the last 11 years, Cayla has continued to grow the center, expanding 4,500 square feet in 2021. The center now has 11,000 square feet, with six classrooms-seventh coming soon, office space, a commercial kitchen, and a large outdoor area. They care for children from 6 weeks to 6 years old.
“I think the biggest thing about Precious Angels is that we’ve always been family-based. We're literally an extension of your family,” said Cayla. “It’s a place you trust and that parents feel comfortable bringing their kids, know they are safe, loved, and having fun.”
As for the future of Precious Angels, they are just getting started. “My goal is to continue to grow our skills to educate the children and to make it the number one place that everyone wants to be,” said Cayla.
We have continued to grow our leadership team with Ann, Director, and Anita, Assistant Director. As the childcare space has changed in recent years, it became apparent to meet the demands of childcare and support our families and staff through additional admin. It takes a village to raise children, and the Precious Angel’s team takes great pride in being a partner for parents to help raise their children!
