CARROLL COUNTY, Ga. — Families are scrambling and teachers are losing their jobs because The Sunshine House, a popular day care and preschool with locations around the country, will close its doors in Villa Rica on May 26.
Parents received a letter from Sunshine House regional director Vivian Reed on Thursday notifying families about the sudden closure.
"We are writing to inform you that after much deliberation, we are not renewing our building lease and will regretfully be closing our Villa Rica school," said Reed.
Daycare @SunshineHouse shutting down Villa Rica location with 3 weeks notice. Families scrambling to find new daycare, staff out of a job pic.twitter.com/RZYNTO5oqw
— Chris Jose (@ChrisJoseWSB) May 9, 2017
Center director Marion Hatfield confirmed to Channel 2's Chris Jose teachers were told about the closure at a staff meeting last Thursday.
Hatfield told Jose there are 25 employees at the school.
"I'm just freaking out. I don't know what to do. A lot of areas have wait lists," said parent Chinese Joyner.
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Joyner is a former Sunshine House employee who has two daughters enrolled at the school.
"They let the kids sign up for pre-K. They had all of the classes full. Those kids have nowhere else to go because all of the other pre-K programs are completely booked," said Joyner. "I just feel bad for the teachers because they'll be unemployed."
The corporate office for Sunshine House blames low enrollment.
At 4:30: Parents scrambling to find a new daycare/preschool after @SunshineHouse gave families/staff 3 weeks notice about Villa Rica closure pic.twitter.com/buj2Nm9zA9
— Chris Jose (@ChrisJoseWSB) May 9, 2017
"Our company does not take decisions like these lightly, nor are such decisions made quickly. Knowing our lease was nearing its end, we began the exploration process over a year ago. Our school has struggled to fill its classrooms. It has operated at less than 50% of its capacity, which is, unfortunately, just not sustainable," chief branding officer Barbara Richardson told Jose in an email. "We investigated other avenues to attract families in need of our services, but the population of young families near our school is just not large enough to support the number of child care centers in the area."
The Sunshine House has 29 locations in the Atlanta area. No other closures are expected.
Cox Media Group
