Families scramble for child care after several daycare centers in northern Utah close suddenly
Jun 11, 2025, 10:00 AM | Updated: Jun 12, 2025, 11:57 am
Oasis Montessori in Syracuse, Utah, is one of several daycare centers closing their doors to parents and kids. (Google Map screenshot)
(Google Map screenshot)
SALT LAKE CITY — Several daycare centers in northern Utah closed suddenly this week. And now hundreds of families are scrambling to find other child care options.
Parents at Oasis Montessori in Syracuse received an email late Sunday night that Monday would be the child care facility’s last day.
“We found out at 11:30(ish) Sunday night, through a message that the admin had sent out, it was the letter from the owner,” said Elizabeth Ball-Conley told KSL NewsRadio. “It just stated they were having to close due to financial reasons.
In the email obtained by KSL, the owner, Lance Stewart, said the entire daycare economic model has been broken since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stewart said he stayed open as long as he could. He said he even used his own personal funds to stay afloat, but his lawyers have advised him that it is no longer sustainable.
“I’ve talked to a few [families],” Ball-Conley said. “Everyone is so sad. There were so many tears on Monday. We just loved Oasis so much. Everyone just felt like a family.”
Other daycare centers are helping where they can
Other daycare centers, like ABC Great Beginnings, are now picking up the pieces and helping families who are looking for care.
Related: The status of child care in Utah, post 2025 legislative session
Stewart said in the email sent to parents that Oasis has already processed the tuition payments for June, including state-provided tuition assistance from the Department of Workforce Services which cannot be transferred or refunded.
However, ABC Great Beginnings has agreed to honor that care through the end of June if families are able to commit to ABC until the end of the school year to absorb those extra costs.
The Stewart family owns and operates three child care centers in Northern Utah, as well as a micro-school in Draper.
So far, KSL NewsRadio has confirmed that in addition to Oasis Montessori, the Bennion Learning Center in Taylorsville and Adventure Time Preschool and Childcare in Provo are also now closed.
