As Eagle County continues to grapple with limited early childhood care options, one of its key child care facilities, the Family Learning Center in Edwards, may be forced to shut down next summer. This closure would add strain to an already overwhelmed child care system.
The Family Learning Center, which cares for 97 infants, toddlers, and preschoolers, was informed earlier this year that its landlord, St. Clare of Assisi School and Parish, would not be renewing its lease after 2025. The school announced the possible closure in April, sending shockwaves through the community.
Cristina Betancourt Santos, the center’s site director, emphasized that child care is a vital component of Eagle County’s workforce and housing needs. “Workforce, housing, and child care form a trifecta in Eagle County,” she said. “If one side is lacking, it affects the entire community. Everybody knows someone who needs child care.”
The executive director of the Family Learning Center, Whitney Young Keltner, echoed this sentiment, pointing out that while new child care centers are being planned for the future, the immediate crisis persists. “It’s great to see people talking about centers that may open in two or three years, but we are in a child care crisis now. Building new centers in a few years doesn’t solve the problem of us losing a center that serves almost 100 families today,” she said.
The closure would significantly impact local families, like that of Rhodes, who has two daughters at the center. “If the Family Learning Center closes, we’ll be scrambling to find spots for both girls in the same center, where they’ll be happy and comfortable,” she said. “This impacts everybody in some way or another.”
The Family Learning Center’s Role in the Community
For over 26 years, the Family Learning Center has been a critical resource for local families, offering education, care, and support. The school fosters a strong sense of community among its students, staff, and families, many of whom come from diverse backgrounds.
“It’s the Family Learning Center. Family is a big part of it,” Betancourt Santos said. The center is the largest private nonprofit early childhood education facility in the upper valley, providing care across nine classrooms for 10 hours a day—a crucial offering for working parents. The center also offers bilingual education and various wraparound services to support families.
For many families, the center is more than just a place for child care—it’s a lifeline. “Our school often becomes the nucleus where families feel they can go for resources or guidance,” Young Keltner said. “Without that support until their child is five or six years old, families miss out on that essential community connection.”
A significant number of the center’s families depend on financial assistance through the Colorado Child Care Assistance Program (CCCAP), with 71% of the students receiving some form of aid.
Impact on Families
Danielle Miller, an Avon resident, experienced the difficulty of finding child care in the valley firsthand. She spent 10 months on waiting lists before her son, now 3, was accepted into the Family Learning Center—a relatively short wait compared to other families who face wait times of up to three years. “The normal child care waitlists here can be as long as three years,” Miller said.
Her family has had a positive experience at the center. “They’re phenomenal,” she said. But with both parents working full-time, the possibility of the center closing could force her and her husband to make drastic decisions. “If the Family Learning Center closes and we don’t have an alternative, my husband and I would have to leave our jobs.”
The impending closure has already led Miller to move her son to a different preschool, a decision she made after waiting three years for a spot to open. “It was a really hard decision, but I thought they were closing,” Miller said.
Many parents, like Rhodes, have begun searching for alternatives, even though her daughters remain at the center for now. However, finding other options has proven difficult due to the limited availability. “It’s been hard because there hasn’t been a good fit yet since spots are so limited,” Rhodes said.
Searching for a New Location
Despite the uncertainty, the Family Learning Center staff remains determined to keep the school open. “We’re still actively searching for a new home while continuing operations until our lease ends in August 2025,” Young Keltner said.
The center requires at least 10,000 square feet of indoor space to sustain its current operations and would prefer a location near Edwards, as most enrolled families live in Edwards or Avon. “This is where people want to be. This is where they want to stay,” she said.
While potential new locations have been identified, securing a new space will depend on funding. “It’s going to take funding,” Young Keltner acknowledged, but she remains hopeful.
Holding on to Hope
Despite the challenges, there is a sense of optimism among the center’s staff and families. “I feel a sense of hope,” Betancourt Santos said.
Parents like Rhodes are also holding onto hope that a solution will be found. “I’m hoping the community will pull together, extend the lease, or find a permanent location,” she said.
Danielle Miller expressed her admiration for the center’s leadership. “Whitney is an incredible director, and she’s fighting to keep it open,” Miller said.
Even with the threat of closure, the school’s waitlist continues to grow. “We have about 200 children on the waitlist, and more families are joining each week,” Young Keltner said. “I thought that announcing the potential closure would stop people from adding their names, but it hasn’t.”
Despite the uncertainty surrounding the center’s future, Young Keltner remains committed to finding a solution. “We’re not going to stop trying,” she said. “In this crisis, losing a center just doesn’t seem like an option.”
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