Triad National Security LLC announced today (May 9) that it has negotiated an operating agreement with an expert local child care provider and small business, Bilingual Montessori School of White Rock, to enhance the child care options for Los Alamos National Laboratory employees and others in the region. Additionally, Triad and the Regional Development Corporation (RDC) have spearheaded a new, two-year certificate in Early Childhood Education at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos that would help existing child care businesses to hire more employees and expand their offerings.
Triad parent entity, the University of California, will provide $2 million for remodeling and furnishings at the new center, located at 3500 Trinity Drive, Los Alamos, near the Laboratory's entrance. Child care services will be provided at market-competitive rates. The new center is projected to open in fall 2023 or as soon as the remodeling and required licensing are complete and staff is recruited. It is intended to serve approximately 100 children, with priority given to Lab employees, especially those whose children presently lack care.
Triad's Board of Directors has pledged ongoing financial support for operations of the new facility. This funding comes from Triad's member organizations: the University of California, The Texas A&M University System, Battelle Memorial Institute and its integrated subcontractors Fluor and Huntington Ingalls Industries. Neither Los Alamos National Laboratory nor the Department of Energy will be financially invested in the initiative.
"Triad is pleased to partner with Bilingual Montessori to expand the affordable, professional child care options in Los Alamos," said Craig Leasure, vice president of the University of California's Office of the National Laboratories. "A child care center for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory employees has been a huge success, and we're taking this approach forward at Los Alamos."
Added Jay Sures, University of California regent and chair of the National Laboratories Committee, "Expanded child care is essential to Los Alamos' important national security mission - it means more caregivers will be able to pursue jobs at the Lab and that those employees can come to work confident that their kids are safe and happy."
Expert provider staffs safe, secure location
Bilingual Montessori School, a local woman- and minority-owned business, was selected via a Request for Expression of Interest distributed by Triad to providers across Northern New Mexico and after a competitive process. BMS will continue to operate its White Rock location.
"Bilingual Montessori School has a long history of serving children with our quality early-childhood curriculum in Spanish and English, and we look forward to growing our BMS family through this new initiative," said Odalys Gonzalez, director.
The Laboratory's Dependent Caregivers Employee Resource Group and Women's Employee Resource Group comprising about 200 people were instrumental in identifying a need through a survey of more than 900 employees and benchmarking what they hope will be a first-rate facility.
"This project is a tremendous step forward in an effort by many working parents and community advocates over several decades to increase the options for parents and caregivers in the region," said Emily Schulze, co-chair of a Laboratory resource group for women employees. "I commend everyone for their efforts. The new center is a testament to our tenacity."
To bring the idea to fruition, Frances Chadwick, staff director of Los Alamos National Laboratory, not only worked closely with the Triad parent companies, Laboratory staff, the county and the Los Alamos Chamber of Commerce, but also with Bilingual Montessori, which she and other stakeholders visited, and the real estate development firm Columbus Capital.
"We are especially pleased with the commitment Bilingual Montessori has made in this collaboration," Chadwick said.
