LYNN — Leading through Empowering Opportunities, commonly known as LEO Inc., is in the process of building a new early-childhood-education facility.
The project’s goal is to consolidate facilities for 3- to 5-year-olds, who are part of LEO’s Head Start program, into one new facility at LEO’s old mixed-use administrative building on Broad Street.
LEO’s 232 students in the program for 3- to 5-year-olds are currently educated at the organization’s buildings at Blossom Street and Commercial Street.
According to Lisa McFadden, director of communications and development, the new facility at 156 Broad Street will feature two new playgrounds, an indoor movement and activity room, and private meeting rooms for parent-teacher meetings, behavioral and physical health screenings, and counseling and intervention.
McFadden also said the new development will allow LEO to increase its capacity for children by 16%.
“The Broad Street project is going to allow us to add a couple more classrooms,” McFadden said. “We’ll have licensed slots for 270 3- to 5-year-olds.”
The $18 million project is funded by a variety of grants and donations, including $450,00 in recently awarded Massachusetts Early Education and Out-of-School Time Capital Fund grants.
“By infusing funds into our local communities to renovate, repair, and expand child-care facilities, we are making Massachusetts a better place to live, go to school, work, raise a family, and build a better future,” Secretary of Education Patrick Tutwiler, a former Lynn Public Schools superintendent, said in a statement.
The project is also financed by APRA funding from the city, a grant from MassDevelopment, and three private donations of more than $1 million.
McFadden said LEO expects the new building will be ready to welcome students in 2025.
McFadden said when the new facility, which has been in the works since 2017, is completed, LEO Inc. plans to sell its properties at Blossom Street and Commercial Street.
