Beloved Bay Path preschool to close at the end of the school year

Date: 2/9/2009

By Natasha Clark

Assistant Managing Editor



LONGMEADOW After careful consideration, Bay Path College has decided to close Bay Path College Preschool this June.

"The nature of preschool has changed in some ways. If you look at a lot of preschool options, they are looking for longer days and to have children stay for lunch," Vice President for Institutional Advancement Kathy Bourque said. "While many of our current parents are happy, for us to move forward in the future, it's very limited. We cannot use that facility to offer anything more than what we are currently offering and that's not viable moving into the future."

Bourque said they did look into options for the future of the program, but that the facility itself cannot be modified to offer other programs. She said it was a difficult decision to close the preschool.

"It's hard. The parents love [the program] and the kids love it," Bourque said.

The college will keep the preschool's doors open until June so that students won't experience an interruption. Out of about 48 students that participate in the program, 40 percent of them will be going on to kindergarten.

Bay Path has also been reaching out to local preschool providers to help parents transition their children to other options. They provided a list of resources to parents.

As for the preschool facility, Bourque said they have yet to decide what its new use will be. She did say, however, that there are no plans to "tear it down, rebuild it or turn it into a dorm."

Bay Path College Preschool originally opened its doors in the 1980s. After closing for a period of time, it re-opened in the 1990s and has provided preschool care ever since.