MADISON — From the time Louis Breland, developer of the Clift Farm community, visited the Ardent Preschool and Daycare school at Redstone Gateway last year, he was open to an exclusive agreement to bring a third location of the upscale, state-of-the-art Christian pre-school to Clift Farm.
Ardent Preschool CEO John LaBreche and Ardent developer T.J. Lee, founder of Leeland Ventures, held a formal ribbon-cutting and open house last week for the Ardent Preschool and Daycare of Clift Farm located on the lake at 176 Uncle Frank Blvd. next to the Publix.
Providing care for children ages six weeks through kindergarten, Ardent held a soft opening in the fall, just in time for the school year. The school’s opening enrollment is larger than Ardent’s schools in Huntsville’s Redstone Gateway and Jones Valley.
“Despite challenges brought on by the pandemic, supply chain problems and waiver issues, we opened with only a couple of minor delays,” LaBreche said. “None of this happens without a lot of hard work from the team.”
Built by Fite Construction and designed by TurnerBatson Commercial Architects, the 23,000 square-foot facility includes 18 high-tech classrooms, secured indoor and outdoor areas, and is designed for natural light to fill each space inside.
The school also includes an artificial turf soccer field, infant courtyard, a splash pad, and covered playgrounds.
It is the fourth of Ardent’s seven schools in Alabama with that design.
“We are excited about this school because we love children and bringing them new life is what makes us believe in the future,” LaBreche said. “We want these kids to know at their young age, God loves them. So, this is a time to celebrate.”
Lee, who was in the daycare business, said the great work Ardent is doing in the community and the way they are doing it is something he never envisioned.
“We built a couple of schools for John, including an earlier school when Ardent first came to Huntsville,” said Lee. “They bought property we owned early on near Bridge Street Town Centre, and then at Jones Valley where they built their first Ardent Preschool and Daycare in Huntsville.
“Since then, they have not looked back. I mean, this is an absolutely stunning operation from top to bottom.”
Delivering the right locations for Ardent Preschools as they grow across North Alabama is of the utmost importance, Lee said.
The school’s design, materials and construction are a nod to honor Jack Clift, who sold the 600-acre farm that had been in the Clift family for more than a century, to the Breland Cos.
It was important Ardent fit perfectly with the traditional family values and generational concepts that flow throughout the Clift Farm development, Lee said.
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