The grand opening of Little Oak Nursery School in Sykesville may be better described as a homecoming.

Last summer, Mount Hebron Presbyterian Church in Ellicott City chose not to renew a contract for its beloved nursery school director, ousting Amy Schroeder after over 20 years. The decision cost the church many families and its entire nursery school staff. And now, the school is closed.

Many of those teachers that quit in solidarity with Schroeder are now working for her again, 15 minutes away at Little Oak.

Sarah Willey is one of those teachers. She once begged to work at Mt. Hebron because she and her kids loved it so much. She worked there for 10 years and even moved across the street from the school. She said Schroeder was an incredible leader atop a flourishing Mt. Hebron.

Last year she taught at St. Alphonsus Preschool, which opened additional spots to take on Mt. Hebron families after the teacher and parent exodus. There, two-thirds of Willey’s 3-year-old students had been in her 2-year-old program at Mt. Hebron, which made the transition easier for kids and teacher alike.

But she told St. Alphonsus late last fall that if Little Oak really opened, that’s where she’d be heading next.

“I can’t even put into words how happy I am that we will be back together and we will be doing what we love,” Willey said. “The community and the gifts we give to those kids and they give to us, that’s worth reviving alone.”

Mount Hebron Presbyterian Church’s governing body referred questions to a statement posted to its nursery school’s website that says it’s no longer accepting students.

“We extend our prayers for the educators and families of Little Oak Nursery School as they begin this new chapter,” an emailed statement said. “We wish them strength, wisdom, and peace in the journey ahead.”

The church’s pastor has previously declined to comment on Schroeder’s departure — which shocked teachers and parents — because it is a personnel matter. But it followed rising tensions between the church and nursery school, partially over possible integration of faith-based education into the school’s secular approach.

Staff and families that followed Schroeder out remained attached to the tight-knit community they’d formed at the 60-year-old Mt. Hebron. Schroeder’s own kids attended the school before she started working there. Members of the all-volunteer Little Oak board of directors have poured a year into starting the new school while working full-time jobs even though they don’t have kids young enough to attend.

“No one has said no. I mean, you ask for someone to help, and they’re jumping in with both feet, ‘What more can I do?’” Schroeder said. “We’re getting support from people that are far removed from our inner circle, and the circle just keeps getting bigger and bigger.”

Little Oak’s Educational Program Chair Amy Crouch said those who sent their kids to Mt. Hebron under Schroeder — who even some adults call “Miss Amy” — want new families to experience the same high-quality education their kids got.

“She ensures that every child that leaves is ready to enter their next step of education,” Crouch said.

Though the teachers will mostly be the same, Crouch stressed that “we’re building something new.”

Little Oak will teach kids ages 2-5, including through a transitional kindergarten program for those who need extra time. Crouch said they offer a play-based and learn-by-doing curriculum, diverse schedules and affordable tuition. The goal is to be even better than the bones of Mt. Hebron, Crouch said, where teachers were able to blend the “nurturing, warm, traditional nursery school feel” with high educational standards.

Crouch, like many others involved in Little Oak’s opening, has early childhood credentials herself. Experienced staff with passion made it “fairly straightforward and quick” to pull the new school together, Schroeder said. Classes start Sept. 12.

Most of the year was spent finding a location. Schroeder said she felt like Goldilocks — “some were too far, some were too small, some were not compatible.” A lease wasn’t signed at Friendship Baptist Church until late spring, meaning Little Oak didn’t start enrolling kids until the end of May.

By then, some former Mt. Hebron families eagerly awaiting the end of their hiatus had already signed up for other programs and put down nonrefundable deposits, afraid their kids would have nowhere to go if they waited too long. But some of these parents have already signed up for the ‘26-27 waiting list, Schroeder said. To help build enrollment for next year, the school is exploring options like mommy-and-me classes to get families in the building, she added.

One day in the mid-August heat, staff members and volunteers gathered at Little Oak to unload and build equipment like play sets, munching on pizza and wings in between. Kids climbed all over the playground, which received $40,000 worth of upgrades paid for by a $170,000 grant from Howard County to cover startup and renovation costs. The grant didn’t cover staff salaries; Schroeder won’t get paid the first year, she said, to “help pay the teachers that are the heart of this school.”

Little Oak can take up to 145 kids. Expanding child care capacity is one of the reasons the school received funding, County Executive Calvin Ball said, as Howard County strives to cut down long wait lists and expand affordable options for families. The county also liked that Little Oak will be fully accessible for kids with disabilities and that Schroeder is a “cornerstone” in early childhood education.

Schroeder has previously said that Sykesville could be considered a “child care desert.” The town has already embraced Little Oak, school leaders said.

Little Oak will be a return to normalcy for parents like Lauren Oliver, who heads the parent group. Her oldest son graduated from Mt. Hebron, and Oliver made best friends out of other parents.

Last year, Oliver scrambled to find her younger son, Grayson, a new preschool while caring for newborn twin baby girls. He ended up at St. Alphonsus with Michelle Hoy, a former Mt. Hebron assistant teacher who will now get Grayson again in her Little Oaks classroom.

Oliver has been on board with Little Oak pretty much from the beginning, providing a parent’s perspective on location tours and tapping into her network to see what parents wanted in a preschool or how far they’d travel.

Though they’re too young for school right now, Oliver’s 1-year-old daughters will be in Willey’s class next year. Willey jokingly begged Oliver to start them early.

By fall 2026, Willey will have finished her first year teaching the inaugural 2-year-old class at Little Oak, a fact she said gives her goosebumps.

“It’s been really heartwarming and amazing to watch this grow into this amazing new community — and old community, I guess — and to know that it’s not gone," Willey said. “It’s revived.”

About the Education Hub

This reporting is part of The Banner’s Education Hub, community-funded journalism that provides parents with resources they need to make decisions about how their children learn. Read more.