The former Silver Spring library on Colesville Road that was built in the 1950s will reopen in about two months, welcoming 125 children to the bilingual Martha Gudelsky Child Development Center.
This is the sixth site for CentroNía, including one in Takoma Park and four in Washington, D.C.
The Gudelsky Family Foundation funded the extensive interior renovations to the 20,000-square-foot building to include brightly painted childcare rooms for children ages six weeks until about five, when they are ready to enter kindergarten.
“We’re 98% there, CentroNia President and CEO Myrna Peralta said of the opening. Besides putting the furniture in place and completing the little details, the center needs an occupancy permit, which it expects in the very near future.
Then, they will apply for certification from the state, which is needed before the staff can train and certify its staff, Peralta said.
There currently is a wait list of between 600 and 700 children.
The exterior remains much the same, which was requested both by Montgomery County and area neighbors.
This has been in the work ever since county officials began talking of closing the Silver Spring library and building a new, larger one on Wayne Avenue.
Three-quarters of the young students will come from low-income families. The rest will pay full tuition, which varies depending on the child’s age.
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