Dear Church Family,
As we recently announced, in the summer of 2023 the Board of Trustees made the difficult decision not to offer a long-term lease renewal to Toddlertime Nursery School, a privately owned for-profit school and long-term tenant. In an effort to minimize disruption for families, the Trustees agreed to a short-term extension through the 2024-2025 school year. A multitude of scenarios were explored to keep Toddlertime on God’s Acre. We understand that Toddlertime owners informed teachers and parents today that the school will close at the conclusion of this program year.
The Toddlertime teachers and families have been eagerly awaiting clarity on Toddlertime’s plan beyond July 2025, when the current lease extension expires. Over the last several weeks, the church received an influx of communication from families and concerned community members, asking for help addressing the limited preschool options available in New Canaan should Toddlertime not offer a program next year. In multiple meetings with the owners of Toddlertime this fall, the church indicated its commitment to provide an educational offering to families who would need it, should Toddlertime be unable to offer a program next year. We assured them that if Toddlertime did not communicate a clear plan for their program, we would fill in the gap.
For these reasons, today we are announcing that we will offer an interim preschool program to families who are without a school home next fall. We are offering a swift response to this urgent situation in support of the broader New Canaan community. We are proud to be an organization which responds thoughtfully, quickly and thoroughly to the community’s needs.
We are moving quickly and confidently to form a new preschool nonprofit, which will be called The Preschool on God’s Acre. The school will be run by an independent governing school board and will secure the required licensing, hire teachers, and begin enrollment. All startup investments will be funded by a loan from the church, specifically from the Baggins Fund, which is an unrestricted gift which sits outside of our pooled endowment investments. We anticipate that the school will be self-funding as soon as operational, and the loan will be repaid.
Although the path to this decision was complex and challenging, we are excited to provide a solution for preschool families in need. Our intention is to move through this time of transition guided by Galatians 5:22-23: But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
We welcome your feedback and input. Please feel free to contact taskforce@godsacre.org with questions and comments.
Yours in Christ,
Chapin Garner, Senior Minister
Amy Werner, Chair of Trustees
