Longtime day care operation fights for chance to stay alive

Debra D. Bass

Friday, July 18, 1997 | 9:36 a.m.

Operation Independence sounds more like a rescue mission to liberate allied troops than a day care center.

Yet rescue, if not a military coup, is precisely what this boldly titled preschool needs.

For 17 years of the center's 32-year history, it has been at 1966 Genoa Drive, in the midst of the Sierra Nevada Arms public housing project, near Lake Mead and Rancho drives.

It must move by the first of August because the land has been purchased by two private entities. In their quest for a new space, Operation Independence workers have found few viable prospects.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has moved every family residing in the complex, but because the preschool is commercial, it was left to fend for itself.

The property it now leases for $850 a month is to be demolished and revamped by Shepherd Hills Development Corp. The corporation plans to replace the rundown apartment-style complex riddled by years of gang activity and ravaged by slack maintenance schedules with 193 townhouse-style units.

The Rev. Emanuel Wasson has agreed to give Operation Independence the right to first refusal of the new facility, but it will take two years before it can rebuild and reopen.

In a March 18 letter to the school, Wasson stated: "We are looking forward to having Operation Independence remain on the premises. There is no intent whatsoever that they leave. We feel that the school has been an asset to the families of the community. We would only like to see it become bigger and better in order to serve more families."

In the meantime, the school is losing clients and fears for its future. Wasson said Thursday that no other school or day care has made any offers on the space to be constructed, because "we've always had the understanding that if any day care center moves in, it will be Operation Independence. We haven't considered anyone else."

The center's problems lie in the short run.

"We have always been here for the parents. At one time the city helped us by offering scholarships," said Emily Meads, executive director of the preschool.

She said her biggest concern is the effect the closure will have on parents, who herald the school as the best deal in day care around for $60 a week. The school boasts an alumni of honor roll students who periodically return for the school's annual kindergarten graduation. This year's commencement ceremonies were witnessed by an alum who is now attending medical school.

"It was really special for my son, because that's his dream now to become a doctor and to know that someone else whose fulfilling that dream got their start here says something," said Maria Egemba, who has three children attending the school as well as an 11-year-old daughter who graduated from Operation Independence.

Egemba once lived closer to the center in an apartment complex, but she and her husband have since moved into a house. They were careful not to move too far from the preschool in deference to there 4-, 5- and 6-year-old.

"It's really the best deal for the price," Egemba said. "The kids love it and the teachers love the kids. At some schools you have the kids crying when you leave them, but with ours it was just the opposite. They wake up early anxious to go and happy to get there. It's a great feeling as a parent because you know that your child is being well cared for."

The school opens at 6 a.m. to accommodate parents with early work schedules. Breakfast is served at 8 a.m. and classes begin at 9:30 a.m. after most of the kids have been dropped off for the day. Lunch is served around noon and parents start picking their students up from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.

"My daughter was reading at the age of 3 and she is now a 9-year-old straight A student at the (Mable Hoggard) math and science magnet school," said Andrea Lamb, whose 6-year-old son just graduated from Operation Independence in the spring.

She is hopeful that the school will reopen and remain open to school her 1-year-old child, who will be eligible for enrollment at age 2.

Meads said the school has a few options for housing in the interim, but they don't look promising. Any facility they locate in the area will likely require renovations, and locations outside the area have proved to be too costly.