Sunshine Preschool, located on Briarcliff Drive, announced plans to close in the spring unless a new owner can be found. PHOTO/JERRY SPAR

After learning about its impending closure in June 2025, parents of students at an iconic preschool are stepping up to find a potential buyer to continue the founder’s nearly half-century of educating the region’s children.

Christine Martin, the owner and administrator of Sunshine Preschool at 1 Briarcliff Drive, said in a recent interview with the Independent that she decided in mid-October to close the preschool she founded at the end of the school year “for personal and health reasons.”

“I was hoping that I would make it to 50 years,” said Martin, 71, noting she started Sunshine in 1977. “It amazes me that students I had taught decades ago are now bringing their children here.”

Martin added that “parents have come here sobbing” after receiving the email she sent to them dated Oct. 28 explaining that the preschool intends to close at the end of the school year.

“I had to let the parents know first,” she said. “They start making plans in January, so I wanted them to have as much notice as possible.”

“Sunshine Preschool has always been more than just a school,” Martin stressed in her letter to parents. “It is a place where children experience the magic of learning through play, in an environment that is safe, nurturing, and filled with kindness.

“Our success has been built on the dedication of our incredible staff and the unwavering support of families like yours,” the letter continued, “who share in our belief that a child’s first educational experience should be filled with care, respect and love.”

The concept of early childhood education was relatively new in Massachusetts when Sunshine Preschool was started. Although the federal government awarded Boston emergency relief funds during the Great Depression in 1934 to start a nursery school program for children ages 3-5, the concept fizzled after seven years. Head Start, the first publicly funded preschool program, was created in 1965 by President Lyndon B. Johnson as a half-day program for preschool children from low-income families.

Martin, a Worcester native, said she has always held education in high regard, particularly in children’s formative years. After graduating from college, she worked in a Worcester day care center for two years. There she fell in love with working with children and dreamed of opening her own facility.

An opportunity arose in Hopkinton at St. Paul’s Church at 61 Wood Street, she recalled.

Christine Martin

“The church had built a space to hold kindergarten classes,” she said. “But when Proposition 2½ went into effect, the church couldn’t afford to run it and was looking for someone to rent it. I remember talking to my parents about it, because back then, the rent was ridiculous.”

Martin’s father suggested that before she considered investing in the venture, she go to small business school. She learned how to research market demographics and discovered that there was only one other preschool in the area, and it served only eight children. To garner support, she put flyers in 6,000 mailboxes “back when it was legal to do that.” With community interest and her father’s financial support, Martin rented the lower church for the preschool.

“We taught 45 children the first year,” said Martin. “After that, we grew to between 100-125 children. We split it into half-day, three-hour classes, with some kids coming on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and the others coming on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There would be a line going around the building on admission days, so we had to create a waiting list.”

In 2001, Martin said, “There was a big to-do” when her lease wasn’t renewed.

“The church asked me to leave because a parishioner wanted to rent the space,” she said. “I was devastated and didn’t know what to do and where to go. My father had passed away, and he was a great mentor for everything I did.”

Martin found the current site at 1 Briarcliff Drive later that year, but she was not prepared for the amount of community opposition to the preschool.

“I had 500 residents against me,” she said. “They protested in front of the school and shouted, ‘Don’t ruin our neighborhood!’ It was written about in The Boston Globe.”

While the case was being debated, she began teaching in Milford. Half of her students followed her there. More returned to Hopkinton with her when the school eventually opened at its current site in February 2002.

After Martin went to court — draining most of her financial resources — a judge ruled in her favor because of the state’s Dover Amendment. This law exempts agricultural, religious and educational uses from certain zoning restrictions.

Added Martin: “I have always tried to work with the neighbors and always tried to keep the integrity of the neighborhood.”

She noted that the school closing would not occur until June 2025. Until then, Martin vowed to “put all my heart and energy into Sunshine and hopefully making this a turnkey business.”

Sunshine is the first and only preschool in Hopkinton accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), she added. Over time, the students, parents and neighborhood have strengthened a positive relationship.

After moving to Florida 20 years ago, Martin has traveled back and forth to be onsite at the preschool. She decided not to sell it at that time because she understood that “Hopkinton is a community that values education and sets the bar very high.”

“I am lucky that I have had great directors and staff that allow me to do this,” she said, adding that all staff members agreed to stay on at the school if a buyer could be found to “continue in our quest for excellence.”

“The teachers are truly phenomenal,” she continued. “They are not only educated, but they are kind and nurturing people. This is important, because a child’s most critical years for brain development is between ages 0-6. It’s truly heartwarming that every single one of them wants to stay.”

Martin and the staff members have taken a continued interest in their students. She said they watch graduation ceremonies and other events on HCAM, the local cable outlet, and reminisce about the children. She noted that two former students met at Sunshine and married more than two decades later.

The response by parents has been equally heartwarming, she said. Several have contacted people who have made inquiries about potentially buying the school. In an Nov. 2 email update, Martin said she had “just spoken with another interested party.”

Sunshine Preschool director Liz Dacey has created a separate email address (47yearsofsunshine@gmail.com) for parents and former students to share their memories of their time as part of the Sunshine community. These reflections will be compiled into a memory book for teachers and staff.

“It’s a hard thing for all of us,” Dacey said. “We value all of our parents’ feelings, and it’s nice to see that parents care so much about us that they want to see the school’s legacy continue.”