If you go
What: My Little Mountain Childcare Center open house
When: 4 p.m. Friday
Where: 5001 Pennsylvania Ave., Boulder
Etc.: The school also will host a summer party at 4 p.m. July 27
More info: mylittlemountaincolorado.com
The Unitarian Universalist of Church of Boulder has leased space to a local preschool which will replace the school that left last year after the congregation voted to outfit the church as a sanctuary for an undocumented immigrant.
Miguel Vasquez, who owns My Little Mountain Childcare Center with his wife Emma Bellera, said they are moving from the home in Boulder where they currently operate in order to expand.
“We changed the license,” he said. “Right now we have a license for 12 kids. At the new place, the license will be for 30 or 35 kids.”
Rev. Kelly Dignan said the church, located at 5001 Pennsylvania Ave., is happy to have the new school.
“We are thrilled because they are totally in line with our mission,” Dignan said. “They offer bilingual education, Spanish and English. They are in line with what we offer.”
Bellera said she plans on having the new location opened by July 30, and the center will offer services for children aged 6 weeks to 12 years as well as preschool, kindergarten and before- and after-school services because the center is close to Eisenhower Elementary School.
She added that she plans on offering yoga, field trips and summer camp. The school is bilingual, and Bellera noted that most of the English speaking parents want their children to learn some Spanish.
The previous school at the church, Active Kids Boulder, pulled out at the end of November after the congregation at the church voted overwhelmingly to convert an area of the building to provide living space for an immigrant taking sanctuary. The owner said parents had safety concerns regarding the use of the church as a sanctuary.
Ingrid Encalada Latorre, a Peruvian immigrant who has lived in the United States since she was a teenager, has been taking sanctuary at the church for the past several months as she fights a deportation order.
Bellera said the school has a few more inspections to undergo in the next week or so, but aside from that they are ready to open.
Bellera and Vasquez, who immigrated to the United States from Venezuela several years ago, say they are fine with the church being used as a sanctuary, and the parents who bring their children are coming to the new location.
“We are immigrants, too,” Bellera said.
For more information, visit mylittlemountaincolorado.com.
John Bear: 303-473-1355, bearj@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/johnbearwithme
