A beloved former Montessori school in Overland Park that abruptly closed less than a year ago could soon see new life as a childcare center with the Johnson County Parks and Recreation District.
The property in question is 7725 W 87th St., near South Lake Park, which was the long-time home of the now-shuttered Johnson County Montessori preschool.
Right now, JCPRD is taking steps to plan for the former preschool’s future as a potential early childhood education or childcare facility after buying the former school property in May.
At a meeting earlier this month, the JCPRD Board of Commissioners approved a contract with the firm Clark & Enersen to complete a facility needs assessment.
For now, any plans for the site remain preliminary.
Once the needs assessment is complete, JCPRD will have a better idea of what kind of renovations the building might require, what services could be provided there and how much all of that could cost, said Kellen Jenkins, marketing and communications manager for JCPRD.
“Something we’re certainly looking at is using that site to bring expanded childcare opportunities to that part of the county,” he said.
Closure of Johnson County Montessori blindsided parents
The school closed late last year after 60 years of operation, leaving families scrambling to find another option for childcare.
The school’s former owner, the nonprofit GoodLife Innovations, decided to close its doors as it continued to restructure to focus more on adults with disabilities. The school’s enrollment also had hit an all-time low, said Mike Strouse, the CEO of GoodLife Innovations, at the time.
“It’s never a good time to close a school,” he told the Post last year. “We’re very sorry about the impact that this had on families. There’s just no good way to end something that you’ve done for 60 years, but we did the best we knew how.”
Sarah Andrews, a single mom living with multiple health conditions, said the whole thing gave her a sense of whiplash as she struggled to find another option after learning the “incredibly sudden” news. She ended up enrolling her daughter Goldie in a different Montessori school in Mission.
“I had no clue that it was just going to close,” she said. “It just hit me wrong.”
JCPRD has made early childhood education a priority
JCPRD’s 2024 Children’s Services Strategic Plan specifically called out a need to create at least five new early childhood education facilities to keep pace with increasing need in Johnson County.
“We’re looking at this site on how we are able to use it to expand our programming and provide more childcare opportunities to Johnson County residents,” Jenkins said.
Today, JCPRD operates some early childhood education programs, including the Roeland Park Early Childhood Development Center and the Nature Play Preschools at Meadowbrook Park and Mill Creek Activity Center.
It also provides pre-Kindergarten enrichment programs, as well as some before- and after-school childcare programs through partnerships with local school districts.
Across Johnson County, local leaders have lamented a lack of childcare and the high cost of the options that are available.
“The more daycare, the better, because we don’t have enough, and it’s so expensive,” said Lenexa Councilmember Courtney Eiterich during a recent vote on an early childhood care facility planned at Lenexa City Center.
What’s happening now?
Jenkins said the needs assessment will likely take a few months to complete. That means a formal project proposal on what to do with the northern Overland Park property probably won’t come to the JCPRD board for consideration until early next year.
“This is the very, very start of that process, but we should have more detailed information that we’ll be able to share probably come January or February,” he said.
After that, Jenkins said JCPRD will have a better idea about how much the project will cost, what all it will entail and when it could feasibly happen.
“There’s still a lot of work to be done before we can fully plan what exactly we’re going to be able to bring to the community from that facility,” Jenkins said. “But we are excited for the possibility and for the future.”
Looking back: Families feel left in lurch by sudden closure of beloved Overland Park preschool
