A daycare that has cared for Middle Village families for more than three decades is shutting its doors, and the news has sent over 200 households scrambling to figure out what comes next. Christ the King Community Daycare and Preschool, tucked inside Christ the King High School in Queens, is set to close permanently next July, leaving parents of children as young as 6 weeks old without their longtime childcare provider.
The closure date is specific: July 1, 2027, according to the Queens Chronicle. The center, run by New Generation Kids, serves more than 200 children ranging from infants to 5-year-olds and has offered after-hours care for working parents, as ABC7 New York reports. For a neighborhood that has relied on the program for more than 30 years, the loss cuts deep.
Word of the closure came in a letter to parents and staff sent Oct. 28, in which the center's education director, Dorothy Wagner, announced both her retirement and the decision to shut down the program. Wagner described the move as “difficult and mutual,” the Queens Chronicle reported, though the letter did not spell out further reasoning beyond that characterization.
Parents Worry About Where To Turn Next
Katie Johnston, a parent affected by the closure, said families are worried about losing access to childcare altogether. “If we don't have reliable childcare, how do we work, what do we do,” she said, a question echoed by other parents who fear nearby providers may not have space to absorb the sudden overflow of displaced families.
Those concerns spilled into the public record on Oct. 29, when several parents testified about the closure at a City Council hearing, according to the same Queens Chronicle report. Council Member Phil Wong's office has since asked school leadership to reconsider the closure and explore options to preserve the program, with Wong saying efforts should be made to keep the facility operating.
Middle Village Prep Eyes Expansion, Offers To Hire Staff
Part of what's driving the shake-up is Middle Village Prep's plan to expand on the shared campus. School leaders there say they have offered to hire the daycare center's staff as the transition unfolds, according to ABC7's reporting. It's a gesture that may soften the blow for some employees, even as it does nothing to resolve where the center's 200-plus children will land.
A community hearing is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 9, where families hope to get answers about the future of childcare services at the Middle Village site. For many parents, the meeting represents one of the last formal chances to press school and city officials before the clock runs out next summer.
A Citywide Squeeze On Childcare Access
The Christ the King closure lands amid a broader childcare crunch across New York City. A policy brief from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs found that the city lost 971 childcare programs, roughly 6% of its total, between 2019 and 2023. Over that same stretch, the brief found average annual costs for infant and toddler care jumped 79% for family-based care and 43% for center-based care, reaching $18,200 and $26,000 respectively.
Queens families in particular have felt the strain. A spring 2025 survey cited in the same brief found 45% of Queens families with young children reported struggling to afford childcare — the highest share of any borough, compared with 33% in Brooklyn, 14% in the Bronx and 11% in Manhattan. The same survey found 39% of Queens families reported difficulty simply accessing childcare, again the highest rate among the boroughs measured.
Against that backdrop, the loss of a 30-year institution like Christ the King Community Daycare carries extra weight for Middle Village families who already worry about limited alternatives nearby. With no confirmed plan yet for the children currently enrolled, parents are left waiting to see what, if anything, changes before next summer's deadline.
