HNS_Haveyouconsidered

It's always sad to see institutions fall on hard-times and forced to make difficult decisions, which I regret for the HFCC. It's especially sad to see this hardship transferred onto HNS rendering it a going-concern.

For those unfamiliar with HNS, this is a real and authentic preschool; it's not a daycare or learning center that forces unnatural demands on structured learning. It's classic and a sadly dying breed of high-quality, homey, well-balanced early education that not only makes learning fun for our kids, but teaches good values! It's a real honest-to-God preschool!

In the 12/19 meeting called by HNS supporters to hear from the church on their congregations decision to close the school, it was interesting and disappointing to learn that the school's fate was decided by a 2/3rds majority of 50 attending members of its 175 member congregation.

It was the consensus from the HNS supporters that there was a real missed opportunity by the HFCC's decision not to reach out to the HNS and its supporters to give us the chance to come up with a proactive and creative solution to pool the from our diverse resources and tap into grant funds (that are due to the HFCC's timing no longer available) in order to save this beloved school.

The poor-handling and timing of the decision was hugely unfortunate not only for the school, but for the many parents with children they planned on registering for preschool/pre-K for fall 2014. Those of us in this predicament find ourselves in a very difficult position, where schools are closed for the holiday break and registration is either the first week of 2014 or we are forced to enroll in daycare to get our children the social element where we are at the bottom of a long wait list. So, there is a real possibility many of these displaced families will suffer children that will not be heading to preschool in the fall.

With no contingency plan for the displaced families (particularly those with multiples) the timing of this closing is a huge detriment and those suffering the greatest consequence are the children affected by the poor timing of this decision.

My Christmas miracle: save the Highlands Nursery School and get my displaced preschool-aged child into a quality preschool for Fall 2014.