NORTHAMPTON — As families voice anger and frustration over Smith College’s plan to close its Center for Early Childhood Education at Fort Hill, Mayor Gina-Louise Sciarra said she is working with the college and the public schools on ways to keep childcare spots available for working families.
The Fort Hill center opened in 1926 and enrolls about 80 children in seven classrooms. Parents and staff learned last week in an email from Anne-Marie Szmyt, the college’s vice president for human resources, that it will close June 4, 2027. Szmyt said the decision followed a review of the college’s childcare benefits and operations, and was not a financial decision.
In a letter to the community released Wednesday ahead of a demonstration in Pulaski Park to “Save Fort Hill,” Sciarra said news of the center’s impending closure has sparked concern among teachers and parents who fear they will not be able to find alternate daycare in the region. She called the news “heartbreaking.”
“At a time when so many families are struggling with rising costs, economic uncertainty and the challenge of finding reliable childcare, the prospect of losing a beloved center that has served Northampton for 100 years is especially painful,” the mayor wrote.
Sciarra, a mother and Smith College alumna, said she empathized with parents who are uncertain about their children’s future care, as well as with the Fort Hill staff whose jobs are under threat.
The mayor identified finding childcare, particularly for toddlers and infants, as being among “the greatest challenges facing working families in Northampton and across the region.”
“Childcare is not a luxury. It is essential to the well-being of our children, the stability of our families and the economic security of women,” Sciarra wrote. “I know personally how important it is to have a safe, nurturing place where young children can learn, grow and thrive. Fort Hill has provided exactly that for generations of Northampton families.”
In announcing Fort Hill’s closure, Smith College said it would expand its overall childcare benefit for employees. Under that program, an estimated 350 eligible employees would be offered a benefit of up to $2,250 per year per child for infants and toddlers age 2 and younger, up to $1,250 per year per child for preschool children, and up to $500 per year per child for elementary school-aged children age 5 through 12 at any licensed and accredited childcare provider.
Noting that she appreciates the financial help the college is offering its employees, Sciarra wrote, “financial assistance alone cannot address the shortage of available childcare.”
She stressed that preserving the city’s existing capacity is equally important.
“I am hopeful that through a new operating arrangement or partnership there can be a way to not lose these desperately needed childcare spots. My office talked with Smith College when the news was released and I had an in-person meeting with them last week,” Sciarra wrote. “We discussed that community organizations have expressed interest in exploring that possibility, and I am encouraged that these conversations are taking place.”
The mayor added that she has been in communication with Superintendent Annie Azarloza to explore the option of expanding the school district’s preschool programming to full-day, five-day-a-week offerings at all four elementary schools.
“Fort Hill is more than a childcare center. It is a community institution that has helped generations of families raise and educate their children,” Sciarra wrote. “I am hopeful that by working together, we can find a path forward that honors its legacy and supports the families and educators who depend on it.”
