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VIDEO: Community outraged after Montessori daycare, school in Pleasant Hill announces it will close

Vince Cestone

PLEASANT HILL (KRON) — A Contra Costa County community is outraged after being told their daycare and school will close next month, and that is leaving parents scrambling to find care for their children.

The school’s owner says she couldn’t renew the lease, but the landlord says that’s not true.


There was outrage and heartbreak among this close-knit group of parents and teachers on Wednesday.

They were told this week that Fountainhead Montessori in Pleasant Hill is shutting its doors next month.

“It was very abrupt,” parent Jen Wyckoff said. “The email subject said, ‘Lost our lease.’ And it was very curt if you want my opinion. It simply said, ‘We’re sorry. After Jun. 15, we won’t be able to care for your children anymore.’ And it’s basically good luck.”

Nearly 100 children and nine teachers are now displaced.

“This is a place where he has found his stride,” parent Joanna Mylin said. “He loves the staff. He’s doing so well here. And to take this from him when he has at least a year-and-a-half to go, it breaks my heart.”

“It’s our family. It’s where we send our kids,” another parent Cristina Mones said. “It’s where we trust that they’ll be safe and that they’re loved.”

Other parents have similar stories.

“When I told her yesterday, she broke into tears and that made me cry too because this is her family,” yet another parent Lindsey Lang said. “This is where she belongs, and she’s hurt. I’m not just upset. She’s hurt.”

Most of the parents tell KRON4 they had already registered for the summer and fall. And they were asked to confirm their enrollment as recently as last week.

Now, they are scrambling to find care for their children.

“We’re also now all sort of competing against each other to find these coveted spots that might be left, and for a community and a family to now be in that position is deplorable,” Lang said.

KRON4 spoke with the non-profit that owns the building. They tell KRON4 they offered a year’s lease to the school’s director but it was declined.

That owner says the offer is still on the table.

KRON4 reached out to the school’s executive director.

She says she was only given a month-to-month lease option.WHAT OTHERS ARE CLICKING ON:

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