By Leslie Collins
Northeast News
September 28, 2011

They call her Miss Vonnie.

She doesn’t come to work dressed in a suit – instead, she dons colorful outfits, like her “Twister” shirt filled with Hasbro’s Twister game boards, polka dots, hands and sock feet.

With an infectious smile, she greets all who walk through the door and after 33 years of running a daycare center in Northeast, she still adores her job.

“I started with $50. I’ll never forget,” she said of opening her daycare center in 1979. “I worked hard, built it up and got it to full capacity. It was like a dream come true.”

Vonnie Occhipinto grew up in Northeast with seven other brothers and sisters. It was through babysitting her siblings and caring for a special needs child next door that she developed a passion for childcare, she said.

Now, Occhipinto operates two daycare centers, both called Children’s Choice Day Care Center, located at 614 Hardesty and 3221 Independence Ave.

Sitting in a miniature chair made for preschoolers, she rattled off the names of those she watched who are now in high school or headed off to college. A number of students have remained in contact and routinely reminisce about Miss Vonnie teaching them to read or teaching them English as new U.S. citizens, she said. One of her former students is going to be a pediatrician, she said with a smile.

Michele Negus, a current employee, grew up attending Occhipinto’s daycare center and recalled her favorite Halloween poem Occhipinto read every year.

“She’s just an extraordinary woman,” Negus said. “She has a big heart and she does everything she can to help people.

“It’s a weird, amazing feeling that, ‘Wow, I work for her and she used to take care of me as a child.'”

As Occhipinto continued to talk about the daycare center, she commended her employees and said she expects them to give 100 percent every day.

“I just always tell the staff, ‘We’re here to raise the kids and love them,'” Occhipinto said. “They’re (employees, parents and children) like your family. There isn’t anything I wouldn’t do for them or their children.”

Not only does Occhipinto embrace her children, she embraces their culturally diverse backgrounds. In addition to serving her own family recipes, Occhipinto asks parents for their recipes to expose the children to a mix of ethnic foods and cultures.

Asked what she tries to instill in her children, Occhipinto said using good manners, being respectful and caring, and helping one another.

“I teach them to love one another because we’re all family here,” she said.

“It’s a good daycare,” Children’s Choice Volunteer Raymond Recob added. “I feel like the kids are being treated right and with respect.

“She’s (Occhipinto) a very good teacher for the children.”

Occhipinto added that she and her employees prepare all the preschoolers for kindergarten and she’s no stranger to messy arts and crafts.

“I let them do everything their parents won’t let them do at home,” she said of the crafts.

Now 59, Occhipinto said she’s not retiring anytime soon.

“I’m never tired of my job,” she said. “To be so involved like I am after 33 years, I really do give myself a pat on the back for that because I love it as much as the day I opened it. And, to me, that means so much. I’m not tired of it at all.”