Parents Protest Planned Shutdown of Little Angels Preschool

Due to declining enrollment and financial pressures, Guardian Angels Church decided to shut down its Little Angels Preschool before this fall, said church administrator Denny Farrell.

But parents of the children who attend the preschool aren’t going to let it go down without a fight.

After getting the news Wednesday that the preschool would be closing, parent Kate Fischer started a website where parents could coordinate their efforts to fight the decision, she said.

The Woodbury mom is determined, she said, because since her husband left for Afghanistan, the preschool is the only place her daughter has felt safe while not with her.

“It’s really hard for me as a parent to think that that safe place will be gone,” she said.

The school is more than a place to learn to count or read—kids who attend also become more empathetic and community-minded, Fischer said.

Her daughter "has really developed this kindness to her that’s remarkable and beyond her years,” she said. “It’s so important that kids hear these message when they’re young.”

Another parent, Mary Brockley, of Woodbury, said when her daughter was 3, teachers at the preschool recognized she might need special services. They brought in a school psychologist who diagnosed her and got her into special education.

“They filled out hours of paperwork,” she said. “It’s like a totally different child now that we’ve got her in services.”

As first-time parents, Brockley and her husband wouldn’t have known anything was wrong without the help of the preschool teachers, she said.

Parents were blindsided Wednesday by the news that the preschool—which has been open 15 years—would shut down, Brockley said.

Brockley said she doesn’t think most parishioners know about the change yet, but groups of parents plan to bring their kids to masses wearing their preschool T-shirts this weekend to talk about it.

“I think when they hear word of this, they’re not going to be happy,” she said.

Although it came as a shock to parents, administrator Farrell said church leadership has been discussing closing the preschool for several months.

“It’s been a very emotional, hard decision,” Farrell said.

Declining enrollment played a big role in the decision, he said. When Farrell started at Guardian Angels, 140 kids attended the preschool. Now, enrollment is 89.

Farrell blames demographics for the decline. He said there are just fewer kids under 5 in the area than there once were.

Finances were also a factor in the decision, Farrell said.

Although tuition covers supplies and teachers’ pay, the church provides the space rent-free, he said, and pays all the utility costs.

Church leaders aren’t sure what they’ll do with the space yet, he said, but one option they’re looking at is renting the space out.

A third factor in the decision, Farrell said, is the opening of a new Catholic preschool in Oakdale.

Transfiguration Catholic School plans to open its own preschool program this fall, Farrell said, and so he’s encouraging Little Angels families to look at that possibility.

School Principal Jan Heuman said a survey of families at Transfiguration last spring showed there was a lot of interest in a preschool program.

“A number of families said they’ve been waiting for this,” she said. “I’ve got a number of school families that are very excited.”

The preschool is holding an open house from 11:30 to 12:30 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29.

Heuman said Transfiguration recently became licensed and hired a preschool director, and she’s willing to consider hiring Little Angels teachers for the new program.

“I have heard absolutely wonderful things about their teachers,” she said. Still, she said, she’s sad to hear about the program’s demise, and the pain it’s causing parents.

Parents Brockley and Fischer said they aren’t yet ready to give up and consider alternatives to their beloved preschool.

“Sometimes magic just happens,” Fischer said.  “When the right people combine in the right environment."