The United Community Center went public Friday with a $5 million capital campaign to build a new 22,000-square-foot early learning academy on Milwaukee’s south side.
The new UCC Early Learning Academy is planned for a site next to the organization’s current childcare and learning center at 2210 W. Becher St.
UCC’s Bright Futures: Un Futuro Brillante Capital Campaign has raised $1.5 million since quietly launching in late 2018. The organization announced its campaign during a celebration for its 49th anniversary on Friday.
The new center will provide services to as many as 200 children, ages six weeks to three years old. Based on neighborhood demographics and current enrollment, the organization expects at least 85 percent of the children at the center to come from low-income families.
The organization plans to break ground in the fall, with the goal of completing construction and fundraising by spring 2020.
The main program goal of the UCC Early Learning Academy is to develop overall language, literacy, cognitive and social and emotional skills of low-income Latino children to get them on-track and kindergarten ready, the organization said. Plans for the building include having an on-site health center and indoor and outdoor play areas.
Last year, UCC completed construction on a new school building at 1038 S. 6th St. for Acosta Middle School, a technology and skilled trades-focused charter school. Enrollment at the school has tripled since it opened in 2016, and by the 2021-22 year, Acosta expects to have 250 students.
The organization also operates Bruce-Guadalupe Elementary School, a charter school for grades K4 through 8th grade, at 1028 S. 9th St.
