I just heard from Alison, one of the organizers of the new Park Slope Schoolhouse with more news about the school formerly known as the Berkeley Carroll Child Care Center
The
organizing group consists of past and present parents who wanted to save a program that has been operating in the neighborhood for two decades; some of the teachers have even
been there since the program's inception.
The group had a lot of help from so
many people and organizations. In that way, it was the best kind
of community effort, Alison said.
And look who helped: Fund for the City of New York, Methodist Hospital, the Berkeley Carroll School and Helen Halverson, the former director of the Berkeley Carroll Child Care Cente.
worth saving and create something that services such a huge need in our
community. We are delighted to say that all of the teachers and staff
have been invited to stay on in their current roles, so we have saved
18 jobs in the process in addition to the 48 childcare spots."'
Park Slope Schoolhouse, formerly the Berkeley Carroll Child Care Center, is now scheduling tours for 2009-2010 1's, 2's and 3's program. Here's the announcement they sent to Park Slope Parents.
A few months ago, many of you heard of the decision by the Berkeley
Carroll School to close its Child Care Center , which was discussed
extensively on this list. Since then, a group of current and former Child
Care Center parents have been working to secure the future of this
wonderful program, which has operated in our neighborhood for over 30
years.
Today, we are thrilled to announce the formation of The Park Slope
Schoolhouse, a child development program for 1 – 4 year olds. We will
operate the program formerly known as 밫he Berkeley Carroll Child Care
Center?through a newly formed non-profit entity and we have been accepted
to the Fund for the City of New York 뭩 incubator program for start-up
non-profits.
The program will continue to operate in its current format, running
annually from September ?August. Parents can select from two-, three- or
five days a week options, and the program will continue to operate from
7:30 AM – 6:30 PM.
Returning families and siblings will be given priority, but spots will be
available for all ages served. Students must be aged one, two or three by
September 1, 2009 for inclusion in the applicable class.
Given the late stage of the pre-school admissions process, the timeline
for acceptance into the program has been accelerated. Tours will be
conducted Feb. 17 ?25. To schedule a tour, please contact Natasha
Corlette at (718) 768-4873.
With the exception of siblings of current and former program students, acceptance
to the program is on a first-come, first-served basis. Applications will
be distributed on Feb. 26 to families who have completed tours. Notice of
acceptance will be given on March 3 and contracts/deposits are due March
11, 2009.
We are incredibly grateful to the many people who supported this endeavor
and made this happen and have a special thank-you for the Fund for the
City of New York, who believed in our mission and accepted us into its
incubator program; Methodist Hospital, who generously has allowed us to
stay in our current space until our new location anticipated to be at 5th
Ave. in the South Slope is renovated; the Berkeley Carroll School for its
assistance in transitioning the program to new leadership; and to Helen
Halverson, the former director of the Berkeley Carroll Child Care Center
for her guidance and support. Every day we hear more and more bad news
about our economy, jobs, etc., but these organizations and individuals
plus many others have contributed to saving 48 childcare spots and 18 jobs
in our community and we are so happy to be sharing this great news in this
tough economic environment!