I just got word of this from an OTBKB reader.
The
families with children at the Berkeley Carroll Child Care Center were
just informed this past week that it will be closing at the end of this
academic year in August 2009.Methodist Hospital owns the building and needs the space back to
accommodate their own growth. Unfortunately, Berkeley Carroll was
unable to find another suitable space. We are all devastated and are
trying to mobilize to get another year extension on the lease so that
the families will have more time to transition to other options.Shortage of child care options, especially for children under two because of the strict physical requirements of the space, was already a
problem in this neighborhood, so this is a real loss, not just to the
families who currently attend, but to the whole neighborhood as well.The center is a truly wonderful place with loving teachers.
A few years ago, the NY Times wrote an article about the "crazy"
parents who pulled all-nighters on a cold February night for spots at the BCCCC.Please help us get the word out so we can rally to save the child care
center.
It may be helpful for readers to have the Hospital perspective on this issue:
In 1999 an agreement was reached between New York Methodist Hospital (NYM) and the Berkeley Carroll School. The Hospital had decided to discontinue operating a childcare center but hoped to find a way to have the service remain available to parents in the community. NYM gave the School a five-year lease for 515 Sixth Street, which had been renovated to house the MHB Childcare Center and which had housed it since 1986. All furnishings and equipment in the building were donated to the School. Berkeley Carroll then began operating a childcare center in this space.
In 2003, when the five-year lease ended, the School asked for a one-year extension to provide more time to find a suitable space in which to move the Center. The Hospital granted the extension. This same request was made three more times. Each time, the Hospital granted the School a one-year extension. In September of 2008, the Hospital received a letter from the Berkeley Carroll School stating that the School intended to close the Childcare Center and return the space to the Hospital at the end of the 2008-09 academic year. There was no request for an additional extension.
Lyn S. Hill
Vice President for Communication
and External Affairs