Karen Quick's July 30 closing announcement letter

| 31 Jul 2012 | 06:44

It is with a heavy heart, that I announce the closing of all school year programs at Milford Hill Learning Center. After 23 years of full time operation offering care for infants, toddlers, pre-schoolers and latch key, Milford Mill will only continue to operate our School Age Summer Camp Program. Our last day of business will be Friday, August 17th. We will re-open for our School Age Summer Camp-Program in June 2013. Refunds for September tuition deposits will be mailed out by September 1st.

The child care industry has unfortunately changed enormously in the last five years with stricter government control, invasion of customer’s privacy and many unnecessary demands from the state increasingly limiting the ability of private child care owners to operate their centers and make choices and business decisions for the benefit of the children and parents they serve. As such, I have decided to semi-retire from the business and begin a new chapter in my life. I opened the doors of Milford Hill Learning Center in September 1989 with a dream and a passion to work with children. I began with 8 students, 3 staff and a whole lot of unknowns, and I am proud of the achievements that were made along the way. Milford Hill Learning Center provided incredible child care to this community, and it also provided a home away from home for so many children, loving arms to hold a crying, distressed child, encouraging words and sympathetic pats on the back to help wipe away all those first day tears of nervous parents who put their faith and trust in me. I am proud and honored to have been there for all of them. This has been an experience of a lifetime and I will treasure all my wonderful memories.

I will greatly miss all the children and families that have been a part of Milford Hill Learning Center for the last 23 years. The written testimonials and letters of praise (fan mail as we call it) that are framed and have lined our walls has been rewarding and Inspirational to us all throughout the years. Over 2,100 children have attended our programs since I opened my doors to the community in 1989. Many of these children and their families remained at Milford Hill Learning Center for 10,12 and even more years as their children grew from babies to toddlers, graduated our Pre-K program and continued for many years in our latch key or school age summer camp. Many of the children I have cared for, have come back to work as a teenager or adult and have also come back as parents with children of their own to attend my center. I will truly miss all the wonderful families that have been so much a part of my life for so long.

I will also miss my staff. What a terrific bunch they are! Many of my staff have been here for 5, 10, 15 years and have always worked to make Milford Hill the great place it became. I will miss the incredible camaraderie, the funny antics, the parties and the laughter I have shared with them throughout the years. I wish them all the best of luck in their future endeavors and will do whatever I can to help them as they move on to other employment.

Milford Hill Learning Center has been a well known organization serving this community for 23 years. Sitting high up on our hill, we became well known for quality and top notch programs. I am proud that we were able to provide such a unique, quality program to the children of this community for so long. Milford Hill Learning Center not only provided child care but helped families in so many other ways. Throughout the years, we have raised thousands of dollars for organizations such as American Red Cross, Cystic Fibrosis, and Muscular Dystrophy to name a few. We have sent care packages to soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as during Desert Storm. We have collected items to send to victims of natural disasters through the years such as Hurricane Katrlna. And of course, we have regularly helped in our local community through donations of food to tho Milford Outreach program every year, donated clothing and needed items to Safe Haven and Toys for Tots as well as annual sponsorships for Delaware Valley Cal Ripken Boys Baseball. Delaware Valley Girls Softball and Pike County Soccer League, People to People Ambassador program as well as the Delaware Valley PTA for tricky trays and multiple donations for car washes, bake sales, etc. Milford Hill Learning Center participated in Relay for Life, walk-a-thons for Breast Cancer Awareness and sold daffodils each year to raise funds for the American Cancer Socioty. Milford Hill is most proud of beginning a college scholarship program in 2004 and for the last nine years, has given away over $20,000 in college scholarships to alumni graduates of our Pre-Kindergarten program, two of which have included high school valedictorian and salutatorian. I hope to be able to continue our scholarship program in the future.

Milford Hill will bo continuing to operate our very popular summer camp program and I hope to see many of you again for our continuing School Age Summer Camp program In June 2013. Sincerely,

Karen Quick Milford