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Walker Chapel UCC preschool will stop operating at the end of the school year after 50 years, a decision church leaders describe as a “pause” prompted by declining enrollment. Staff members, however, say the move amounts to a closure of a longtime neighborhood institution.

“They call it a ‘pause’ but it’s really a closure,” preschool director Suzanne Romness said. She noted that none of the teachers had been asked to stay and said reopening later would not restore the same school. Six employees will lose their jobs.

Romness, who has taught at the preschool since 2013 and continues to lead its class for 2-year-olds, said the school has been a major part of her life. Her son, now 20, also attended.

She learned of the decision from the pastor and church leadership on Thursday, May 8. Just three days earlier, she had met with the pastor to discuss ways to keep the program operating.

“I was totally shocked,” Romness said.

Pastor Teer Hardy said he was also disappointed but maintained that church leaders reached the decision carefully. The preschool, founded as a church ministry 50 years ago, did not have enough enrollment to sustain itself or break even during the next school year, he said.

Although the preschool is independent and does not teach the church’s religious affiliation, Walker Chapel considers it part of its mission. The church board therefore has authority over whether the program continues.

Romness acknowledged that enrollment has been difficult since the COVID-19 pandemic and that the school endured a rough year. She argued, however, that one difficult period did not mean future years would be the same and said the staff should have been given an opportunity to make the program work.

From a mothers’ morning out to five-day classes

Former director Pat McGeehan, who led the preschool for 40 years, said it began with two classes meeting one day per week—one for 1-year-olds and another for 2-year-olds.

The program initially resembled a “mother’s day out,” giving parents a free morning while their children played. It later operated as a cooperative for a time and offered numerous field trips.

As families’ needs changed, the preschool expanded its schedule and added classes for 3- and 4-year-olds. It also became more structured and incorporated academics in response to parents seeking a more traditional preschool experience.

The current program has three small classes operating five days per week. Each class enrolls eight children and has two teachers.

McGeehan said the school’s comfortable atmosphere and enduring community ties made it a neighborhood institution. Former families still approach her at church or in grocery stores to recall children she taught years ago.

Bookkeeper Ruth Haubert has an equally long connection to the preschool. She has worked there for more than 40 years, and three of her children and two grandchildren attended. Her grandchildren still identify the building as their school when they pass it, she said.

Haubert also recalled seeing the same types of childhood keepsakes pass between generations, including handprints made by both her grandchildren and their parents.

Church considers a different child care model

Hardy said the church intends to spend the next year gathering community input and determining what kind of program would better meet current needs.

Many parents now work full time and want full-day child care rather than a shorter preschool schedule, he said. Church leaders announced the pause in May so families would have time to find other arrangements for the fall.

Walker Chapel also met with Mt. Olivet United Methodist Church to confirm that its preschool had room for Walker Chapel families who wished to transfer.

Hardy said the need for child care remains, but the church must determine how to adapt its ministry to serve the community. Romness believes the parents, children and teachers would prefer a simpler answer: keep the preschool as it is.