Dear Menlo Park Council members and madam mayor, We are writing to express the importance of Menlo Children Center (MCC) to the city of Menlo Park and residents. We must as a community come together and keep this facility running, especially when there is already a shortage of quality child care in the city. With the impact of the current pandemic, we understand that it puts stress on the city. The same goes to the families currently attending or the 50+ families on the waitlist trying to enroll. We urge that the city can work with the community to come up with a solution to continue offering affordable childcare to its residents. Seeing the proposed budget for MCC, we have many questions around where and how the numbers are coming from. What are the assumptions put in placed? Is this a short term proposal or long term plan? Are there creative ways we can utilize the space while adhering to state/CDC guidelines and minimize lost? The proposed cost recovery set forth is asking for an increased of $1,147 per month per family, that is a 70% increase from the current tuition rate. How is this a realistic increase and how is the city expect its residents to be able to afford that? Also, how is this rate compared to private daycares in the area? MCC has been a place to bring families like ours together and created a joyful community that is invaluable to the city of Menlo Park. We can say from experience that we would recommend MCC to our friends and neighbors in a heartbeat. Reopening the facility is important and we should open as quickly as possible. We are already depriving the 14 graduating preschoolers a graduation ceremony and an opportunity to say goodbye to their friends and teachers. There's no reason to wait until August to reopen a facility when there is an immediate need for. Thank you for taking the time to read our email. Stay healthy. Best, Heidy and Eric Hu On Tue, May 12, 2020 at 12:26 AM Heidy Li Dear Menlo Park Council members, We are writing to express our concerns that the city is proposing the potential closure of Menlo Children Center (MCC), especially during a pandemic where everyone is struggling to find a new "normal". We want to take a moment to share our thoughts with you and hope that council members would strongly consider keeping the facility running. With the impact of Covid-19, under shelter in place, children have been out of school since mid March. It has been a challenging time for everyone but young children that facilities such as Menlo Children Center (MCC) serves are particularly impacted. They don't fully gasp what is happening in the world but more importantly, children at this age should be socializing and learning in a group environment everyday. They need hands on stimulation and kids their age to collaborate with. They miss their friends and their teachers. We asked our son today what he miss most about his school and he said "everything." It is sad to think that we might not go back to school this year but to think that there might not be a school to go back to is heartbreaking. Council members, we would like you to take a second to think about all the faces of the children you will disappoint if the school is shut down. Where will all the children go? There is already a lack of quality childcare to begin with in the city. Our son started attending MCC, almost two years ago. He started in the "Morning Birds" half day program which sadly is no longer around. He transitioned to the full day program and has been there since. During his time here, not only is he making new friends, my husband and I found ourselves bonding with other parents from the school as well. MCC has been a place to bring young families like ours together and created a joyful community that is invaluable to the city of Menlo Park. Preschool is the beginning of a child's education journey, most of the kids that graduate from MCC would end up in the same elementary schools. It's been many years since we've all been in school but I would bet that it's always nice to see a familiar face on your first day in a new school. MCC lays the foundation for that. As we all do our parts to "flatten the curve" so that we can reopen businesses and hopefully find a new normal, childcare is an essential business that is crucial in bridging that gap. Budgets are important, but let's not throw childcare in the mix. We truly hope you would consider keeping MCC intact as we ride through this pandemic. Thank you for taking the time to read our email. Stay healthy. Best, Heidy and Eric Hu Received on Tue Jun 09 2020 - 16:37:50 PDT
