Dear New Canaan Community,
We need your help.
ToddlerTime Nursery School in New Canaan
ToddlerTime needs a new home. ToddlerTime Nursery School has proudly served the New Canaan community for more than 44 years. We have graduated thousands of students, employ 30 women and foster the early education of 125 young students each year.
After decades at the Congregational Church of New Canaan (CCNC), our lease will come to an end on July 31, 2025. Over the past year, ToddlerTime and CCNC have held several discussions in the hope of remaining in the same space we’ve occupied for decades. Despite our best efforts, we were unable to reach an agreement. We want to emphasize our willingness to remain at CCNC if a lease is offered.
ToddlerTime Nursery School in New Canaan
Our dedication to providing high-quality preschool education has not diminished, and we are fully committed to finding a new home for ToddlerTime. Any nursery school holds a special place in the heart of its students, parents and the community it serves. In nearly half a century, we know that ToddlerTime has been a special place for countless New Canaanites, and we want that to continue.
As we search for the ideal location where we can continue nurturing and educating the children of this community, we would greatly appreciate the support of the New Canaan community in helping us find a new space.
ToddlerTime Nursery School in New Canaan
We are open to acquiring or renting a new facility or land that meets our needs, as well as to a short-term option that would allow us to continue operating for another 1-2 years until our current families graduate. If anyone has suggestions or leads regarding a potential new location for ToddlerTime, we encourage you to reach out to us.
To our students, ToddlerTime is their first home away from home.
It is their first time in an educational environment. It is where they make some of their first friends. Where parents find partners in the same struggle of raising a family. These experiences are pivotal in a child’s development, and we take great pride in the impact we have had on our students, their parents and this great community.
It is our great honor and privilege to provide early childhood education to thousands of children in the New Canaan community, and to work alongside many wonderful teachers, most of whom are proud New Canaan residents.
Our top priority right now is finding a new location so our students know that their first home away from home will be there for them next year and in the many years to come.
Your continued support means the world to us, and together, we are confident that ToddlerTime will continue to thrive in a new home for the 2025-2026 school year.
With Gratitude,
Barbara Davis
Carolyn Williams
Lack of early childhood education / full-day daycare in New Canaan is a huge challenge – especially for dual income families and especially for the youngest kids. Creating additional capacity and sustaining what we have should be a real town priority. I have always thought that Irwin Park could be part of a solution for this. It has excellent existing outdoor facilities that could be partially cordoned off for young kids, and an underutilized barn (which could be repurposed in a very cool way) and a manor house which appears to have no plan of use at all. It also has some on-site parking and is relatively close to the train station so commuting parents (or staff) can easily get to and from the facility.
Oh I hope you do find a location soon! What a wonderful school you have built, so many memories for so many kids in town including my own.
Losing Toddlertime would be such a tragedy! I have sent both of my children to the school since they were 16 months old. We have formed meaningful relationships with the teachers, and many of my closest friends are Toddlertime moms. My oldest was so well prepared for kindergarten, and my youngest is currently in his last year and enjoying every minute. Losing the current space is a tough pill to swallow, but losing the school altogether is unthinkable and would be a MASSIVE loss for our town!
What is the town hall annex (what was the teen center) being used for these days? Or the old Red Cross house?
Scott, the Town Hall Annex is occupied by the Department of Human Services and two rent-paying tenants, the Chamber of Commerce and a local dance studio—uses set up by former First Selectman Kevin Moynihan during his first term (the successful one). The Red Cross building is privately owned, and there’s an appeal on the land use docket in state Superior Court in Hartford of the New Canaan Planning & Zoning Commission’s denial of a proposal to redevelop that property with 20 units (an affordable housing project).
I really hope the church reconsiders. Toddler Time is such a special place that has been around for decades. It doesn’t feel right to be pushed out like this leaving so many children with not many options in town.
Shutting down ToddlerTime would be a huge mistake. It’s more than just a place for education, it’s a vital community resource where children build foundational skills, make friends, and learn in a safe and nurturing environment. Families depend on this preschool for reliable, quality care, and the staff work tirelessly to support both the kids and their parents. Closing Toddlertime would create a ripple effect, leaving families scrambling for alternatives and potentially harming the development of these young children. We need to protect spaces like this that play such a crucial role in our children’s futures.
Toddlertime has been an incredibly important place for us and our girls. We are hoping we can keep this institution in town. It will be a significant and unnecessary challenge for this town to have this many families in search of a replacement. This has to get solved quickly.
Barb & Carolyn – I am so sorry this is happening. I really hope the Congregational Church will reconsider. All three of our kids went here and we loved every minute!
As a mother of 2 Toddlertime alums, a current Toddlertime student, and as a Toddlertime alum myself I IMPLORE the church and Toddlertime to set aside whatever differences may have arisen in these lease negotiations for the sake of the children who are currently enrolled. The least you could do is allow Toddlertime to stay until all current students have graduated or completed the 4’s program (which would only be 2 more years). The stress, angst, and heartache this is causing Toddlertime families has been incredibly difficult and disheartening.
This note is unclear. Was a lease “not offered” or is there a disagreement as to price?
A lease was not offered.
This casts a dark shadow over the Congregational Church. I would like an explanation from them that gives just cause to break what to me is an inherently appropriate relationship between church and family. Does the church no longer want to support the families in the congregation, or invite new families to join?
Isn’t our elected First Selectman Dionna Carlson a deacon at the church — might she help in this matter that involves so many young families in the community
It looks like the lawyers are dictating an end to healthy and normal programs like this; the same thing happened with Grace Church causing them to leave the Grace Farms campus.
aaaaaand this thread is closed, thank you everyone