Regis Children's Center to Close; Parents, Teachers 'Blindsided'

As a mother of three boys who attend the Regis College Children's Center and Academy Kindergarten, Kristie Zaccagnino said she was blindsided and concerned, along with many other parents and teachers at the "abrupt" announcement last week that the center would be closing. 

In a letter dated April 23 from President Antoinette M. Hays, it indicated that the Regis College Children's Center would close operations at the "completion of the current school year," which is June 30. 

"In the past dozen years the Regis College Children's Center, which started as a service for employees in the 1980s, grew into a service for our neighbors," reads the letter. "However, as you know, early childhood education and child care services agencies have also proliferated regionally, reducing our enrollment." 

The complete letter is attached to view. 

In response, Zaccagnino wrote in a letter to President Hays, "I received a flurry of emails and phone calls from parents of the RCCC this morning about the Children's center closing. I was blindsided along with all the other teachers and parents. Aside from being completely devastated that my four children will not be able to continue their early education at Regis, I'm disgusted at the way this was handled."

Zaccagnino said that contracts had already been signed for the 2014-2015 school year and that "parents are now left without options for the upcoming school year as it's past the application deadline for every preschool in Weston, Wellesley and Newton. It was implied from my conversations with teachers this morning that they were told last night that there are plenty of schools still accepting applications as you can see the signs while driving down route 30. This is the most ridiculous comment I've heard, as we are looking for the best preschools in the area with the best teachers."

Regis is one of the only nationally accredited preschools in the area.