WASHINGTON — For almost 60 years, the Concord-St. Andrew’s Cooperative Nursery School has been located inside a Methodist church in Bethesda, but has provided nonreligious classes and care for young children. Now, a plan to convert the preschool to a religious school has some parents up in arms.
“The parents feel like they were completely blindsided,” said Darren Higgins, whose four-year-old goes to the preschool.
Last month, parents were notified in a letter from the school that the Concord-St. Andrew’s Methodist Church council amended the school’s bylaws to allow for the school to be converted to a Christian preschool, in which teachers will “incorporate age-appropriate Christian lessons in their daily activities.”
In the letter, the church says this move is being made to align the school’s teachings with the most recent Methodist Church rules governing its educational programs. The school also said the changes would be implemented for the 2018-2019 school year and apologized for the short notice to parents.
The announcement caught some families by surprise, including those which don’t practice Christianity.
“It was a disappointment that the church was handling it in such a poor way, and then there was the offense of it to a Jew,” said Leah Markowitz, whose 4-year-old daughter attends the school.
Parents who don’t want their children at a religious school are concerned that they have only a few months to find a new nursery school in a very competitive area for preschool spaces. Parent Kate Mueller is also worried about the impact the changing of schools will have on her 3-year-old daughter.
“If we decide we don’t want to go ahead with what the church is offering, she would be in one school this year, another school next year and kindergarten the following year, so three schools in three years,” Mueller said. “That has put us in a difficult position.”
WTOP has made repeated attempts to reach church officials for comment, but haven’t received a response.
The nursery school is a cooperative school, in which parents help as teacher’s aides during the week. Several generations of some families have attended the nursery school. Higgins said his wife was a student there.
As the changes are announced to parents, the school’s website, which is soliciting admission applications for the next school year, doesn’t reference the pending change. The school is described on the website as a nondenominational preschool which “includes teachers and children of all faiths carefully respecting each other.”
Mueller said she understands the church has the right to make it a Methodist preschool but thought they should work more with parents before transitioning.
“First of all, the way they’ve handled it, and second of all, the abruptness of the changes — both of those have been unfair to and disrespectful of the parents and families who are already enrolled,” Mueller said.
Mueller, Higgins and Markowitz hope the church will reconsider the timetable for the change, and allow current students to move onto elementary school before the changes kick in.
