Star-News (Pasadena, CA)
October 26, 2006

New preschool to be Earth-friendly

By Nicky Loomis, Correspondent

PASADENA - From the ceiling down to the soap, this preschool is going green.

More than 50 toddlers and their mothers paraded in hard hats, pulling wagons of cardboard bricks and plastic shovels for the virtual groundbreaking of the new Mother's Club learning center Wednesday morning.

As the first green-certified preschool in California, the 10,000-square-foot, $6.5-million facility at 980 N. Fair Oaks Ave. is being built according to the principals of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Instead of building from the ground up, the organization will be gutting the former headquarters of the American Friends Service Committee and reusing materials.

"This isn't your typical groundbreaking. We don't have any broken ground, shovels or bulldozers," said Judith Wilson, campaign chair and president of the board.

The front of the building will be tiled in solar panels that take energy into a ceramic cell to generate electricity and reduce energy consumption.

"We'll probably be close to 50 percent independent power," said John Dale, architect for the project, of Harley Ellis Devereaux in Los Angeles.

The new school will include an infant and toddler center, preschool, parent education center and outdoor learning center for up to 70 children instead of the 50 it holds at its current East Orange Grove Boulevard location. Adult literacy classes, health access and education programs, and professional training for early childhood educators will be available during the evening.

With funding from a number of local foundations and individual supporters, the nonprofit has raised more than half of its goal.

The building will be completed in August 2007, with the old facility open until the new building is move-in ready. For 45 years, the Mother's Club has taught "two-generation" literacy programs that educate both mothers and preschoolers living in isolation and poverty, struggling with language barriers, lack of job skills and overcrowded living conditions.

"The power of two promotes strong parent-child relationships," said Mayor Bill Bogaard on Wednesday.
Looking around at the bevy of toddlers and their mothers, he added, "Maybe the theme should be the power of two, or more."

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