Pequeñitos Child Care has done it again. The rapidly expanding NE Portland-based Spanish immersion program has made its second recent purchase of a building in or just outside B-W, this time the former Alder Commons property at 4212 NE Prescott St.
Sthefany Messner, the company’s multi-site coordinator and administrator, says the new building could open as one of its centers as early as March because it already has permits and classrooms in place.
Earlier, Pequeñitos bought the former U.S. Bank space at 4920 NE 42nd St. That space, now expected to open in January or February, will include an infant classroom, preschool classroom, and after-school care. Earlier plans to build a second structure there changed, Messner said, when the Alder Commons property became available.
The former Alder Commons site will initially focus on infant care and later add toddler and preschool classrooms.
Pequeñitos operates other sites on NE 55th Avenue (currently its main site), N. Lombard Street, NE 73rd Avenue, and NE Sumner Street. It currently provides care for 170 children.
The company started 19 years ago, when CEO Karen Messner, Sthefany’s aunt, turned caring for her own daughter into the beginning of a bigger childcare career.
For more information, visit pequenitoschildcare.org.
Chris Rauber and his wife moved to Portland and B-W in mid-2022 after many years in the San Francisco Bay Area. He wrote for the San Francisco Business Times and other publications. He was born in Oregon