Allan Appel Photo
Donna Cook’s daughter Sasha was bringing dandelions to her dozen little pals Friday morning at the Friends Center for Children on upper East Grand Avenue in Fair Haven Heights. Without a new building to accommodate them, her 8‑week old brother Jonah and another 50 New Haven tots in need of preschool care will have more trouble landing a spot in the program.
Not to worry: plans for that new building were given the green light at last week’s Board of Zoning Appeals meeting.
The BZA granted a use variance so the day care that currently has a dozen kids will be able to expand in the new building (pictured) to up to 69 kids from 3 months to 5 years old.
Also granted was a special exception so that the Friends Center for Children day care could share the parking lot with the Religious Society of Friends (or Quakers).
After the center’s Executive Director Allyx Schiavone made her presentation Tuesday night, a neighbor rose and objected to the potential noise that might emanate from a school that has expanded from a dozen kids to 69.
In her amusing response Schiavone (pictured) said that the infants and toddlers spend a great deal of their time sleeping. She invited the neighbor to come over and to witness the phenomenon.
“We’re very peaceful,” she added.
When BZA Commissioner Walter Esdaile asked about parking, the center’s lawyer Scotia Ryer explained that the lot was used by the Quakers primarily for their services on Sunday. The day care’s use would be during the week.
The day care center was founded by, among others, several families who are members of the Quakers. However, the two are separate and distinct non-profit organizations, explained Ryer.
The new building (in the rendering) would be situated behind the meeting house and capitalize on the sylvan setting, with many windows facing the woods on land owned by the city.
In the proposed 7,000 square foot building a total of 40 families would be accommodated and the new school afford jobs for eight full time and eight part time staff.
“Our goal is to increase access to affordable child care,” in the city, said Schiavone.
The Friends Center for Children is a cooperative model; parents must contribute time and sweat equity. Still, tuition is expensive: care on a 12-month basis costs $15,000 per year for the infant and toddler program and $13,800 for the preschool.
Schiavone said that 48 percent of the kids are currently on scholarship. The school recently received funding from the state’s school readiness program, which will provide subsidies of up to $8,000 per kid for those families who meet the program’s income requirements.
“We want to make sure we have a diverse mix of families from different racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. If you know Quaker education, we are really trying to create an environment where we honor the concepts of peace, equality, community, simplicity, and integrity,” she added.
The board referred the proposal to the City Plan Commission, which by ordinance must review issues related to parking. The commission will consider the proposal next week.