Parents unite in hopes of saving 'unique' day care
By LOGAN MABE
Published August 5, 2003
TAMPA - Laura Clark thought she'd found the perfect preschool for her 16-month-old son when she enrolled him at Learning Horizons Academy, a 5-acre complex with a bilingual curriculum, a kid-friendly petting zoo and a working garden.
"This place is just wonderful," said Clark, an administrative assistant at the University of South Florida. "It's a very unique school. They've got llamas, horses, chickens and rabbits that run around with the children in the playground. It's the cutest thing you've ever seen. It's awesome."
It's also on the brink of collapse.
Learning Horizons' owners, Edmond and Frediths Konrad, abruptly closed the school July 24 when they found they could no longer make payroll for their 20 employees. The move left parents in a lurch. They quickly mounted a campaign to save the 18-month-old school at 14506 N Boulevard in the Lake Magdalene area.
"As parents we want to take it over as a co-op," Clark said. "Or we're looking for an investor willing to come in and save it."
The preschool, which also offered after-school care for preteens, is the former home of the Learning Gate Community School. Learning Gate, which operated a preschool at the location for 17 years, became a charter school in 2000 and moved to a 30-acre site in Lutz.
"When we acquired it, we knew that it was not doing as well as we felt it could," said Edmond "Pat" Konrad, an architect by training who just took a teaching job with the Hillsborough school district.
"We hoped to build it up, but we never really got out of the red. I used up all my resources. I had no money for the payroll and no expectations that the fall would be any better."
At its peak, Learning Horizons could accommodate about 120 preschoolers and 30 infants. And with weekly fees that are competitive with larger franchise day cares, Konrad said they could have made it if enrollment had reached those numbers.
But the summer was slow, and Learning Horizons had fewer than 50 students, he said.
Clark said the weekly fee for her son was $130, less than what she would pay for infant care at the day care chains.
"Years ago, people came from New Tampa and all over, but they don't do that now because they have day cares closer to their homes," Konrad said. "But very few of those have horseback riding and swimming. Still, parents will pay $30 more a week to go to a Primrose."
Unlike those franchise preschools, Learning Horizons has an onsite swimming pool. Its grounds are heavily shaded by mature oak trees. Horses and llamas live in stables at the rear of the property. The school also features a vegetable garden for the children. .
The Konrads did open the school Monday for parents who have not yet found alternative child care and will keep it open until Wednesday before the utilities are cut off. One parent, Jennifer Austin, dropped off her two boys Monday morning, hoping it wouldn't be for the last time.
"It's very sad because this is such a special place," Austin said.
"Unless something happens and somebody can help out, we will close," Mrs. Konrad said. "We're still looking for someone to save the school."
- For more information, contact Frediths Konrad at 390-8381. Logan D. Mabe can be reached at 269-5304 or at mabe@sptimes.com
