Amherst College, which has long hosted and subsidized the well-regarded preschool, has asked the school to vacate the premises by June 2012 to make way for a construction project.
The Little Red Schoolhouse preschool at Amherst College will become homeless if it doesn't find a new location by June 2012. Amherst College has asked the school to relocate to make room for a construction project.AMHERST -- The Little Red Schoolhouse at Amherst College is getting the boot from the elite college, which has asked the well-regarded preschool to find a new home to make way for a major campus construction project.
The Little Red Schoolhouse -- officially known as Amherst Day School but affectionately called "Little Red" -- is a tuition-based preschool for children ages 3 1/2 to 5 on the campus of Amherst College.
Little Red officials have known about the college's eviction notice since January. But a grassroots effort is now underway to compel Amherst College officials to help find a new home for the 75-year-old preschool, which has been asked to vacate the premises by June 2012.
That's the move-out date established by the college, which is moving forward with plans to build a large science building in the vicinity of the schoolhouse. Amherst College officials have not said if the schoolhouse building would be razed to accommodate construction.
Officials at the top-tier college, which had provided about $20,000 of Little Red's annual $70,00 budget, say the preschool now must fend for itself.
"Unfortunately, the building has to close next June," College spokeswoman Caroline Hanna told The Daily Hampshire Gazette for its Saturday edition.
"The college has supported the Amherst Day School for more than 70 years, and has maintained the building free of charge. We hope there will be ample time to plan for their future," Hanna said.
Construction of the science building is expected to last several years, and noise, dust and heavy equipment could "affect the health and safety of the children," Hanna told The Gazette.
Undeterred by the big college's plans, Little Red appears to be bracing for a David-vs-Goliath clash, pitting a 20-pupil preschool against one of the world's most well-endowed private colleges. A "call to action" has been issued on Little Red's Facebook page, which asks supporters to write letters to save the school.
Anthony W. Marx, president of Amherst College since 2003, is leaving to become president of the New York Public Library. Officials and supporters of the Little Red Schoolhouse, a preschool located on the college's campus, have been lobbying Marx to throw them a lifeline. The college has asked the preschool to find new premises by June 2012 to accommodate a campus construction project."We Need More Letters Fast! Amherst College has just made a statement that they won't continue our endowment funding," a Facebook entry from last week states.
"More letters to the College Board of Trustees, letters to the editor of Hamp. Gazette, + the New York Times! Is this the legacy of consequence that President Marx wants to leave our community? Does eliminating a well-established preschool present the best image of Amherst College?" the statement goes on to say.
"President Marx" is Anthony W. Marx, who is leaving the college's top post to become president of the New York Public Library. The Amherst College Board of Trustees has named Gregory S. Call, the dean of faculty, to serve as acting president while a search committee seeks a permanent replacement for Marx. Call's tenure as acting president begins July 1.
Marx has made it clear that the college is ending its financial support for Little Red. And apparently he has been unmoved by direct appeals from parents of current and past Little Red students, according to Stacy Tobin, president of Little Red's trustees.
"I left (a March meeting with college officials) optimistic that they would want to come up with alternate plans," Tobin told The Gazette for its Saturday edition. "It wasn't until this past week that they clarified their position, giving us little time to transition from here to somewhere else."
Little Red's director, Therese A. Ross, could not immediately be reached for comment, but she told The Gazette that the preschool provides "a remarkable early childhood experience." That "experience" could soon end, however, if Little Red does not get a lifeline from the college.
"It's not necessarily a viable option to provide this same program elsewhere, because we've been subsidized by the college," Ross told The Gazette.
Little Red officials have known about the preschool's imminent demise since roughly January, but they had remained optimistic that the college might provide an alternate location for fall 2012. But that does not appear to be in the college's immediate plans, based on Hanna's previous statements.
A Feb. 11 message on Little Red's Facebook page laid out what's at stake for the preschool in unambiguous terms: "Amherst College is moving forward on their capital building plan, starting with a new science building in the summer of 2012 and continuing with the deconstruction of all the Social Dorms. The Little Red Schoolhouse building will become unavailable for the preschool program as of June 2012. The endowment funds and the physical plant support will also cease at that time."