Thursday, October 1, 2026
Even while she was working in construction, Alissa Jackson knew she wanted to open a daycare from the time that she was 18. She started Little Bumble Bee Daycare at her Glen Head home in 2011. Now the daycare has expanded, moving into the Gold Coast Public Library’s former building at 50 Railroad Ave. Jackson described the expansion as a “dream” she never though would come to fruition.
Jackson and her staff held an open house at the new location on Saturday before its opening on Monday. Parents in the community brought their children to take in the setup with some families returning and some new to Little Bumble Bee. Children were free to use the daycare’s playground and get their faces painted. Parents were offered tours of the facilities and a chance to meet the teachers.
“I was raised here, and so this is a community thing,” Jackson said. “We have great parents. We have great families.”
Running a daycare at her home required Jackson to get a license from New York State’s Office of Children and Family Services as well as clear inspections like fire safety. Moving into the new building meant new inspections, like fire safety and from the Department of Health, as well as a new OCFS license. She also needed approval from the Town of Oyster Bay to run the daycare without the minimum requirement of 15 parking spots since Jackson does not own the available parking lot.
Jackson also presented a business plan and offer to the Gold Coast Public Library Board, which was approved. She described the available building as a “godsend.”
In the expanded daycare, age groups will be divided and separated into different classrooms. What the OCFS considers infant care, six weeks to 18 months, will be split into six weeks to nine months and 10 to 18 months. The next age group will occupy toddler rooms. The oldest children will be in preschool rooms at three to five years old.
“Once I knew that there were going to be the separate rooms and we could pick,” said Tay Vaughan, one of Little Bumble Bee’s teachers, “I instantly was like ‘I want to be with the infants’.”
Vaughan began working at the daycare after sending her own daughter there a decade ago. She is now a head teacher for infants. Vaughan said that watching babies hit their milestone is something she enjoys about the job.
“Babies that come in that can’t sit up, that months later are now sitting up,” she said, providing an example. “Or babies that don’t necessarily like tummy time, but I could give them a toy in front of them, and they seem to like it now. And just the development of all the babies, it’s amazing.”
Jackson explained that it is important to her and her staff to make sure parents can send their children there while they go to work without worrying.
Locust Valley resident Erin Borroughs sent her first three children to Little Bumble Bee and has now enrolled her fourth. As an art therapist and Assistant Director for Children and Adolescent Services at CEC Healthcare, she said the daycare has been able to accommodate her work schedule. She also praised Jackson and Vaughan for their communication, especially after her four-year-old returned after her youngest was born.
“I dropped (my son) off, and he just was not happy,” Borroughs said, “and I would reach out to Miss Tay, or Alissa reassured me ‘It’s five minutes that he’s upset, and then he gets distracted, and then he calms down’.”
Jackson said that teaching and activities focus on individualized care, meeting each child’s particular needs. For example, teachers may focus on the alphabet more with some children but colors with others. She emphasized that the daycare is family oriented.
“I couldn’t have grown without (the families),” Jackson said. “It’s community, and when parents feel assured, then we do.”
