SARANAC LAKE — As Gov. Kathy Hochul expressed this month in her State of the State address and proposed 2026 state budget, the future of New York’s child care sector continues to be a priority for her administration.

This January, Northern Lights School received the green light from the state to move forward on a major project that will save the school money on energy bills and provide a more stable future for the facility for years to come. NLS was awarded a $320,000 grant in July 2024 from the Dormitory Authority of the State of New York to replace the school’s unreliable oil furnace with a modern, energy efficient geothermal heating and cooling system. The New York Nonprofit Infrastructure Capital Investment Program grant, which required matching funds from the school, will also be used to install an insulated roof on the school building. Work on both projects is anticipated to begin this spring.

“This grant was a long time coming,” said Ann Armstrong, current NLS board member and former board president who led the school’s grant writing efforts. “We wouldn’t have received these funds without the early support from our generous community and ANCA’s expertise. This project will sustain our school building for decades to come and let us put funds once spent on fossil fuels towards our staff and young families.”

When Armstrong and the school board approached the Adirondack North Country Association for grant advocacy support in July 2023, the regional nonprofit identified funding sources that might support the school’s urgent infrastructure needs. ANCA staff helped NLS navigate a complex landscape of federal, state and foundation grants by helping locate suitable grant opportunities, draft proposals and submit applications.

ANCA’s clean energy team also provided information and resources regarding energy efficiency upgrades for the building and local contractors who could complete the geothermal and roofing projects. Staff helped determine that an ultra-clean, long-lasting, geothermal heat pump system, paired with a new insulated roof, was the school’s best option with the lowest long-term cost.

“We are ecstatic that this grant came through for Northern Lights after submitting so many strong proposals to other funding agencies,” said Jon Ignatowski, ANCA’s manager of food systems businesses, who previously served as the organization’s grants advocacy coordinator. “Funding for childcare is already very limited and competitive, and we have found that support for existing facilities in rural areas like ours is particularly difficult to secure. We are grateful to the NLS team for their perseverance and to DASNY for its forward-looking investment in the community. We look forward to completing a project that will serve as a model for the rest of the state.”

NLS currently provides early childhood education and daycare for 34 children ages three months to five years and employs 18 local staff. Saranac Lake’s Head Start program occupies one classroom in the school building, providing child care for an additional 10 families and jobs for between four and seven staff and support professionals.

Established by local parents and teachers in 1997, the school was originally located in Wilmington. As the student population expanded to include more families in the Saranac Lake area, the school relocated in 2007 to the lower floor of the Saranac Lake First Presbyterian Church. In 2021, the school community realized a longtime dream of owning its own facility with the purchase of the Lake Colby School on Trudeau Road from the Saranac Lake Central School District. The building and property have provided space to grow the school’s offerings for local families and personnel.

The installation of the new heating and cooling system will require drilling two wells, inserting piping into these wells, and connecting them to a geothermal furnace. The system will capture thermal energy by utilizing the earth’s consistent 50-degree temperature and pumping water from the ground to a furnace for heating or through a refrigeration system for cooling. NLS was able to install necessary pipes and vents in the building last summer with grant support from the Cloudsplitter Foundation. Local contractors Scott Watkins from EMM Heating in Croghan and Wayne Davison from North Country Spray Foam in Tupper Lake will complete the projects.

Jones said school staff and board have begun planning a community gathering to celebrate the project’s completion in late spring or early summer. The celebration will include an opportunity for community members to help with planting and landscaping to rehabilitate the project site.