Today we’d like to introduce you to Janna Hopkins.
Janna, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I am starting my 8th year as Director here at Bethany. My background is in teaching. I taught 14 years in DISD, then 12 years at another preschool here in Dallas and now I’m at Bethany!!
When I came to Bethany, it was a very small school, their enrollment was about 35 families. It was not even breaking even. Luckily, I know terrific teachers and we were able to grow our enrollment!! We got to work on advertising our school and working on getting people to even know we were here!! Our first year we had almost 80 families, but then each consecutive year, we bumped up enrollment.
We are proud of our hard work! We now have approximately 170 families enrolled here and have an active waiting list! We have created a wonderful place for kids here and have made it successful! It was a group effort!
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Well, there were certainly times those first few years that I worried about being able to make our budget but it always worked out. We were very good stewards of our money and worked hard at being creative! Once we were more established and in demand, the worst part was having to tell prospective families that we didn’t have room!!
The biggest threat so far has been the pandemic and how to keep our school open, pay our teachers and provide the safest environment we can for our children. I’m blessed with fabulous assistants and wonderful teachers and they all always step up and do what’s necessary. We will reopen in September and are prepping right now to be as safe as possible!!
We’d love to hear more about Bethany CDC.
Bethany CDC is now a thriving, sought after preschool in the area. We are extremely proud of our work to go from 35 kids to an annual enrollment of about 170. We used this tagline in our advertising: “We’re the best-kept secret in Lake Highlands,” and it’s true! Not too many people knew about us. But we worked hard to change that!
However, word of mouth and advertising can only go so far if you don’t have a product that people like!! I say it all the time, but I am so lucky to have this staff. They go above and beyond all the time. It’s evident that we are successful because we are centered on the child… our primary goal is to serve the children that come to our school. Our goal is be a supportive as we can to our parents. We are here for the kids! As an outreach of Bethany Lutheran Church, we have the spiritual and educational needs of your child met while at Bethany!!
What were you like growing up?
I grew up the oldest of four kids and was quite the little boss. My siblings can attest to that. You know, big sister stuff: “don’t look at me” or “you can’t sit here”… gosh, I was SO nice… ha!! We are now all friends. I lived in Corpus Christi, Texas and enjoyed trips to the beach or swimming in the local pool. I loved the school.
I was a HUGE reader that was pretty much my goal in life. I’d bike to the 5 and 10 stores and find a new book each weekend. I was actually kind of shy when I was younger but somewhere along the line, that went out the door. I was always bringing home stray cats (still do!) and was a typical kid. I made jewelry in the 7th grade and still do it sometimes today!
Contact Info:
- Address: Bethany CDC
10101 Walnut Hill Lane
Dallas, TX 75238 - Website: www.bethanycdc.net
- Phone: 214-348-9691
- Email: cdc@bethany.net
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