Day Care For Brookline Teachers' Children To Move From Baldwin

BROOKLINE, MA — A nonprofit day care for the children of employees of Brookline Public Schools that's been using space at the old Baldwin School for at least the past decade might have to leave by the end of next school year. According to the Town Administrator's office, the Brookline Schools Staff Children's Center has expressed interest in putting a bid on a vacant town-owned home near Larz Anderson Park.

"Once we have a contract (fingers crossed) we plan to launch a big capital campaign to try and raise the funds to renovate the space. It is definitely going to be tight to make this happen in just one year," said Jenny Longmire of the center.

But even getting a contract is up in the air still.

For the past 40 years, the center, a parent cooperative day care serving infants, toddlers and preschoolers, has cared for small children of Brookline's teachers and staff — first at the Lincoln School, then at the old Baldwin School. When the town eyed the latter as a possible space to build a ninth elementary school to address enrollment increases, the staff at the center wondered what that might mean for them.

Last fall, employees from the center, which is not part of the public school system, reached out to school and town officials in the hopes that a long-standing deal allowing them to operate on reduced rent somewhere in town could continue. The district suggested moving the center to the 55 Newton near Larz last year, but the cost of renovation seemed too much, according to a Wicked Local report at the time.

School Committee members met with center officials several times last year and this year in an effort to help relocate the school, according to school officials.

The Newton Street spot seemed like the best fit for the center, which would have to raise a significant amount of money to renovate, a school official told Patch. The main concern seemed to be whether a parking lot and dropoff spot could be added to the location.

The Baldwin school vote didn't change things

Although town residents voted against a tax increase that would fund building a ninth school at the Baldwin site, school district officials said they still need the building for space to address enrollment increases in the district.

So the day care will still need to vacate its space in the Baldwin School by the end of next school year.

School Committee members are workshopping ideas this week on how to best use space in town for students. It's not clear, however, where everyone will fit, say officials.

A town resource

The Brookline Schools Staff Children's Center was started in 1979 by a group of parents teaching in Brookline schools.

Having a quality preschool that teachers and staff of the public schools could afford, and that was nearby in case of an emergency, helped ease the minds of new parents who wanted to work in town, according to proponents.

In 1979, the teachers got the support of the school committee and then-superintendent of schools, who donated space for the preschool program in the Lincoln Primary school. That year it became a member of the Brookline Extended Day Association. About 10 years ago, the group moved to the old Baldwin School in Chestnut Hill.

The center works similar to an extended day program in that it is a tuition-funded program using space and utilities provided by the town and subject to the town's building fee program. The money it saves helps attract quality staff, according to an email the center sent to advisory committee Sean-Lynn Jones in December.

The center grew from providing two classrooms to three and now serves about 32 infants, toddlers and preschoolers of school staff, town residents and town employees.

The director estimated the center has served 320 families in the last 40 years by enabling people who can't afford to live in town, to at least work in town. Staff also said the center has been a way to attract teachers to town.

"Our existence helps the town of Brookline hire and retain young teachers," said the center's Director Jane Pinto in an email to Advisory Committee members in December. "Its reputation among teachers is so strong that the program enrolls almost entirely by word of mouth. Commonly, older mentor teachers or department heads refer BSSCC to younger colleagues."

The center’s tuition, which runs less than $2,000 per child per month, pays the director, six teachers and 10 teaching assistants, according to the website.

Relocate To 55 Newton Street At Larz Anderson Park?

According to the town, the day care officials met with school officials twice in October last year. In December, Pinto and several teachers signed a letter asking the advisory committee to raise the issue of relocation at the upcoming May town meeting. On Jan 16, the center held a rally about the "threat posed to BSSCC by the Baldwin School Building Project." School officials said they met with center officials twice this year before the vote, on Feb. 7 and April 25, and then once after the vote to discuss plans for relocation in June.

The town told the center officials they could put in a bid to relocate to 55 Newton St. That property, the home is town-owned property and can only be used for educational, nonprofit or recreational purposes.

The 32,210 Square foot house has about 10 rooms, central air conditioning, gas heat and gas hot water. It was built in 1850 and added to in 1860. In 2017 the town did some work to remove some plaster inside.

If the center wins the bid, it would cost in the range of $700,000 to renovate the spot to make it suitable for the center, according to center officials, though the cost is not yet 100 percent clear.

"We are overall excited," said Longmire who pointed out - if they can get the cite- 55 Newton offers exciting features abutting the Larz Anderson property.

"We hope to create an early education center that is fully outdoor and natured-based. We would also be able to renovate the building specifically to our liking without (hopefully) the fear of having to move again. However we are still concerned and nervous about the timeline and cost," she said.

[Editors note: The original story incorrectly referenced the name of the home at 55 Newton.]

Patch reporter Jenna Fisher can be reached at Jenna.Fisher@patch.com or by calling 617-942-0474. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram (@ReporterJenna).