Schools

Hauppauge Preschool Offers Help to Parents Displaced by Closed Montessori

Owner says she's been fielding calls from upset parents for two days, will offer free registration to affected.

As parents are left scrambling after the , a nearby preschool is trying to help any way they can.

"I was up all night over this," said Jackie Krumm, owner of of Hauppauge. "It's just awful."

Krumm said she's been flooded by phone calls from parents, especially those who were supposed to see their kids take part in moving up ceremonies in two weeks, marking the end of preschool for those who will start kindergarten in the fall.

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"At this point I'm offering to waive the registration fee for parents who want to sign up," she said, but she really hoped to invite those displaced children to her school's moving up ceremony. Unfortunately her venue, the Hauppauge Library, is just too small.

Krumm said her sister school, the Children's Montessori Center in Ronkonkoma, is extending the invite to parents to join their moving up ceremony. And Smithtown School District Superintendent Edward Ehmann told told News 12 that a local parent teacher association will host a moving up ceremony for affected parents on June 13.

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Krumm hopes waiving her fees will give parents who are stuck trying to find a pre-school on short notice a bit of a break.

"I think one of the parents had just paid registration [at First Discovery] in May," she said.

Krumm asks that any parents who may still be in a bind to call her at 631-780-5650.


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