HomeMy WebLinkAboutTREEHOUSE MONTESSORI SCHOOL EXPANSION - MJA/FDP - 10-10/A - SUBMITTAL DOCUMENTS - ROUND 1 - PLANNING OBJECTIVESTREE HOUSE S L SOUTH ELEVATION
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amendment request to allow 25 students to attend the Treehouse Montessori School
would help us meet current demand. Every semester, since Fall 2008, Treehouse has had
to place children on a waiting list and increasing the limit can aid in meeting this demand.
Finally, the increase in enrollment will provide the revenue stream to provide basic
employee benefits, such as health and dental insurance, retirement plan options, paid sick
leave and paid vacation time. These benefits also ensure retention rates remain high,
corresponding to the higher teaching quality at Treehouse Montessori School.
The building currently has a total of 1,238 sff on the ground level (excluding the garage)
and 442 s.£ finished in the basement The garage adds an additional 380 s.£ and is
currently where teachers park. The badcyardloutdoor play area measures 5,362 s f and
has a south gate that opens to the grassy field and parking lot owned by Fort Collins
Bible Church (2550 S. Taft Hill Rd, Fort Collins, CO 80526). We are proposing to
convert the garage into additional classroom space (NOTE: we currently meet and
exceed the 35 s f per child state standard, assuming 25 students). The conversion of the
garage into more functional classroom space will further enhance the quality of the
school. The increase m students would require another easily accessible bathroom is
made available to the children. A space adjacent to the current bathroom will be
converted into a small bathroom with a toilet and sink (see attached plansj. The
basement is reserved and locked for storage as dictated by state regulations. There are no
plans to change the utilivgon of this space.
lire primary problem with convertmg the garage into classroom space is that it eliminates
the space for teacher parking- Treehouse Montessori School has a letter of intent from
the Fort Collins Bible Church to use their parking lot for teacher parking (attached letter).
Teachers will be allowed to park and use publicly accessible sidewalks or public
transportation t D arrive at work- Additionally, there are two conveniently located bus
stops on both North and South -bound sides of Taft Hill Road. Teachers have the added
benefit that both parking lot and sidewalks are judiciously cleared following any snow
stone. This current agreement with the Fort Collins Bible Church provides parking
access with no additional developments deemed necessary by either the church or by the
school to accommodate this plan.
Increasing the number of children from 15 to 25 potentially adds additional traffic to
Valley Forge Ave. There am, however, several important considerations: 1) Drop-off
and pick-up times are varied over several hours in dw morning and aftmwon, thus there
has never been a problem with congestion of traffic on Valley Forge Ave. 2) Treehouse
reduces any traffic associated with teachers parking on -site by having these park in the
parking lot; and 3) There is a lack of additional school traffic on weekends, on school
holidays, or on school snow days.
Project Name: Treehouse Montessori
Project location: 2013 Valley Forge Ave. Fort Collins, CO 80526
Project Summary:
Treehouse Montessori School, located at 2013 Valley Forge Avenue in Fort Collins, is
requesting an amendment approval to increase the number of students from the allowed
15 to a total of 25 students in the existing school. The proposal includes increasing the
indoor classroom space by converting the existing garage, where teachers currently park,
and adding a second child -accessible bathroom. The expansion will help the school meet
current demand and provide basic employe benefits while maintaining the "Home away
from Home" residential characteristic of the school.
Statement of Planning Objectives:
This is a proposal to increase the number of children allowed at Treehouse Montessori
from 15 students to 25. Treehouse, Montessori is a preschool for children 3-6 years of
age from all ethnic, economic and linguistic backgrounds. The school was established in
2007 by converting a single-family residence into commercial zoning. It should be noted
that prior to establishment of the preschool, the residence had been abandoned or left
empty from spring 2006--summer 2007 and then was a rental property during the summer
2007. During the period it was abandoned and was rented, a general deterioration in the
property occurred and several times police were called to control noise from the renters.
Since establishment of the school, we have improved the property, resulting in a general
appreciation of the property. Ail neighbors from whom we have received input are
pleased with the improvement, believe that our school adds value to the neighborhood,
and generally support the expansion of the school.
Sire facility's hours of operation is 7:30 a m to 530 pan. on Mondays through Fridays.
The school has various pick-up and drop-off times distributed throughout the day and, as
such, has not experienced any of the congestive traffic issues encountered by schools
with defined start and stop times. The school is closed on weekends and on holidays that
follow CSU and PSD calendars. And like PSD, Treehouse offers a short program in the
summer. In further accordance with these schedules, Treehouse follows the scow day
closures announced by PSD In addition, Treehouse Montessori School currently
employs 4 teachers and staff members (l Directress, 1 Administrata teacher, 2 teaching
assistants) with a mwumrma of 3 employees concurrently working at the facility at any
one time.
Our goal is to provide exceptional child care and Montessori education is a "Home away
from Home" environment,while keeping tuition affordable and providing staff
competitive salaries and benefits. The initial limit of 15 students was granted to allow
time to see if the school would work in the neighborhood. Treehouse Montessori School
has only received positive support from the neighborhood meeting, and plans to further
cultivate this positive relationship with ors by keeping the building modifications
in line with the residential characteristics of this neighborhood. Additionally, the