After nearly two years of planning, construction is underway for an expansion at Little Blue Preschool in Carbondale. Projected for completion in fall 2025, the 2,427-square-foot expansion will more than double Little Blue’s current capacity for children between the ages of 6 weeks and 12 years.
“In Carbondale there are so many people who are trying to get their kids into care or who understand the need for child care and how it supports our community,” said Michelle Oger, Blue Lake Preschools’ (BLPS) executive director. “Child care helps people work and helps these kids be successful entering kindergarten and be successful citizens as they grow up.”
Situated at 55 North 7th Street, Little Blue is one of three schools operated by BLPS, a board-governed, nonprofit child care organization. The other two locations are the original BLPS — also known as “Big Blue” — in El Jebel and Stott’s Mill in Basalt. Stott’s Mill opened in September 2024 and is licensed for 50 children ages 6 weeks to 6 years. Oger said these spots filled within three months of opening. At Little Blue, the expansion will increase the infant room, add a toddler room, preschool room, teacher work space and space for after school care; licensing will increase from 35 to 86 children, including 15 new after school spots.
Working closely with the Town of Carbondale, the new design creatively maximizes usable space. Previously, Little Blue operated on two separate lots and was zoned as commercial-residential transitional. The lots have now been combined and Little Blue was rezoned to Historic Commercial Core (HCC). With HCC zoning, the nonprofit can more easily connect to Carbondale events, remove on-site parking and ensure high-quality outdoor space.
“Once construction is done, we can plant new trees, add a sandbox and put a garden out there,” said Oger. “The Carbondale trustees were fantastic at approving our requests for zoning, our building permits, and really enabling us to move this project forward.”
It takes a village
Currently BLPS’s waitlist, excluding school agers, is 494 children; of that number, 284 spots are requested for infants and toddlers. In a recent study, the Confluence Early Childhood Education Coalition (CECE) — a collaborative partnership between local business, nonprofit, education and parent leaders working to expand affordable child care options — reported that infant care was significantly limited from Parachute to Aspen. Specifically, “as of fall 2024, staffed capacity for infants in the Roaring Fork and Colorado River Valleys was only sufficient to serve approximately 18% of babies born in the region in 2023,” CECE reported. In the downvalley region — Glenwood Springs and Carbondale — there were only enough infant slots for 23% of babies born in 2023.
“Everyone joining our waitlist wants Carbondale. That’s our smallest school. While this addition will help, it won’t solve the problems,” said Oger.
Oger added that infant and toddler care is often more expensive than preschool care because of the lower teacher to student ratio. BLPS maintains a one-to-four ratio in the infant rooms and a one-to-five ratio in the toddler rooms.
“The majority of our schools have more infant and toddler spots than preschool to help fill a portion of that need,” Oger said. “We have to work so hard to raise funds to make up for that so we’re not putting that expense back on families.”
To quickly address ever-mounting child care needs, BLPS has decided to forego a low cost loan from USDA. Instead, the nonprofit will apply for grants, host fundraisers and accept donations from the greater community. Thus far, Oger said community support has been incredible.
On April 4, BLPS partnered with TACAW to host a successful fundraiser. The nearly sold-out event included live music by solo artist Nick Lenio and Valley-based band The Confluents with catered food and wine, a silent auction and door prizes. The fundraiser exceeded its goal of $75,000, raising almost $92,000.
“I was so impressed with the 239 people who attended because we raised the admission price this year,” said Oger. “TACAW did such a great job making everything look so nice, and we had community members, parents and sponsors attend.”
Keeping it local, BLPS hired Valley-based TE Builders to be Little Blue’s general contractor. Jeff Bader, on-site superintendent, said TE Builders is excited to have this job and to help local families. Bader, who grew up in the Valley, understands the child care shortage and said maintaining a tight schedule is critical. He added that many suppliers, including Builders FirstSource, have generously donated or discounted either their time, labor or materials.
“We want this to be a community project,” Oger concluded. “Whether it’s a cash contribution toward our capital campaign, or donating materials or connecting us to someone who is willing to help with this project […] we want people to feel a part of this and help however they can.”
Connect with BLPS at www.bluelakepreschool.org
CECE is currently working on a ballot initiative to expand affordable access to early childhood care and education from Parachute to Aspen. For CECE’s research and ballot initiative, visit www.cececoalition.org