A national child care and private kindergarten provider announced today it is closing one of its six Henderson locations, sending parents scrambling to make other arrangements for the summer and next school year.
Officials at La Petite Academy on Robindale Road told parents dropping off their children this morning that the facility will be shuttered on June 26.
“We’re practically devastated,” said Eric Padilla, whose 6-year-old daughter and 4-year-old son have both attended La Petite since 2006. “My kids have known all those teachers for their childhood and now we have to figure out what to do, and we only have three weeks to do it.”
La Petite Academy is operated by Learning Care Group, a for-profit child care and early education services provider. The company operates 571 La Petite Academies in 36 states and Washington, D.C. Company officials released a statement saying their lease, the age of the building and the demand for child care in the area were factors in the decision to close the site, which is licensed to serve up to 162 children from nursery school to kindergarten. Officials would not provide enrollment figures for the specific site.
The company said it would work with parents to find child care, including offering to transfer students to its other locations. Learning Care Group operates 15 other facilities in the valley, including five in Henderson.
Several parents said they had not seen any warning signs that the facility was in danger of closing, and the property manager said he was unaware the company would not be renewing its lease.
“I just find it frustrating that on the surface the location seemed to be doing really good. You never heard any complaints and the classroom always seemed full, so it just doesn’t make any sense as to why all of a sudden they’re closing down another location,” said Elvis Rowe, whose 4-year-old daughter attends the school.
Rowe said his daughter came to La Petite Academy in late 2008, after the child care program she was enrolled in at the time shut down. That facility, Childtime Children’s Center in Las Vegas, was one of two other programs in Las Vegas run by Learning Care Group to shut down in the last year, according to Clark County business license records.