Repurposed School in Missoula Now Hosts Child Care Centers Amid Crisis

MISSOULA, Mont. — The once-abandoned Cold Springs Elementary School in Missoula, Montana, has been repurposed into five independent child care centers. These centers are the first participants in the Missoula Child Care Advantage (MCCA) network, with a sixth center set to open in September. When fully operational, they will serve up to 90 children from infancy through preschool.

Missoula County, like many areas in the U.S., faces a severe shortage of affordable child care. The community has found a solution by utilizing unused public buildings such as closed schools. Cold Springs Elementary was closed in 2018, but its facilities are now being used for early child care, helping to address the local child care crisis.

MCCA was created to convert these underused spaces into functional child care centers. Each classroom has been uniquely transformed into a different day care environment, such as nature-themed spaces and Montessori-inspired programs. The network aims to stabilize the child care sector by offering shared services like waitlist management and telehealth.

Parents in Missoula have struggled to find child care due to the high demand. For example, Adam Rasmussen and Meredith Repke, who secured a spot for their daughter at Cold Springs, had difficulty finding any available providers. MCCA’s opening allowed them to move back to Missoula and resume their lives, highlighting the network’s positive impact on local families.

The MCCA model has attracted attention from other states and has inspired similar projects, such as the Ticonderoga Community Early Learning Center in New York and the Jay County Early Learning Center in Indiana. These initiatives aim to repurpose closed schools to address child care shortages and improve access for families.

In Missoula, the school district’s involvement has been crucial, offering affordable leases and support. However, space alone isn’t enough to solve the problem; broader efforts are needed to stabilize the child care sector. MCCA’s success at Cold Springs serves as a pilot for potential expansion throughout the county.