County's Last Catholic Preschool Site Hits the Market at $6.5 Million on Booming CR 210

The Diocese of St. Augustine has put the shuttered St. Thérèse of the Child Jesus Early Learning Center on County Road 210 up for sale at $6.5 million, marketing the prime, fast-growing site for redevelopment more than a year after it closed its doors. The listing effectively closes the chapter on Catholic early childcare in St. Johns County — leaving local families without a single Catholic preschool option even as the county keeps adding rooftops.

The property sits on 3.79 acres near Interstate 95 and St. Johns Parkway, one of the county's most heavily developing corridors. According to the listing, it includes a 17,534-square-foot building — classrooms, offices, open areas, restrooms, parking and outdoor play space — built in 2016. It carries 464 feet of frontage along CR 210, the kind of visibility that makes it attractive to commercial buyers.

Why a preschool built for 180 kids couldn't survive

When St. Thérèse opened in 2016, diocesan administrators said in a closure letter that it was one of only three early-learning centers serving the surrounding area, and it ran at roughly its full capacity of about 180 students.

The CR 210 corridor's explosive growth cut both ways. It brought families — but it also brought competitors. By the time the center announced it was closing, officials counted roughly 30 early-learning centers operating nearby.

Enrollment slid steadily beginning in the 2022-23 school year. By the end, the center served just 58 children from 49 families — a fraction of what the building was designed to hold. The diocese cited that declining enrollment alongside financial struggles tied to the property's mortgage when it shut the center down on Feb. 27, 2025.

The last Catholic center closes, too

St. Thérèse's closure was not the end of the story. This spring, the diocese also closed Cathedral Early Learning Center in St. Augustine, a fixture that had operated for about four decades.

According to local news reports, Cathedral announced its end in a letter to families on May 21, setting a closure date on or before June 30 and catching parents and staff by surprise. The center had been running at less than half of its 120-child capacity, and families were left scrambling to find new childcare while teachers looked for new jobs. A family-organized fundraiser had raised money to help the center's staff.

Cathedral's shutdown left St. Johns County without any Catholic early-learning center for the first time. The nearest remaining option is in Jacksonville, near Nocatee. Across the region, the diocese still operates several early-learning centers.

What families were paying

For parents weighing what the losses mean for their budgets, the Cathedral center's published rates offer a reference point. Its monthly tuition ran from about $740 for VPK-age children up to roughly $1,200 for a one-year-old.

By comparison, according to figures cited in local reporting from the online childcare marketplace Winnie, the average cost of full-time daycare in St. Augustine runs around $900 per month.

Program	Monthly cost
VPK (Cathedral)	~$740
Infant, age 1 (Cathedral)	~$1,200
St. Augustine daycare average	~$900

A site built for growth — just not this kind

The irony is hard to miss. The same relentless development that drew families to CR 210 also crowded the childcare market to the point that a purpose-built center couldn't fill its rooms. Now the land itself is the asset, marketed for redevelopment in a corridor where commercial construction keeps advancing.

For neighbors along CR 210, the sale signals more of what the area already knows well: another high-visibility parcel changing hands, and likely more commercial activity on a road that has grown busier every year. What eventually rises on the 3.79-acre site will depend on the buyer, and any redevelopment would still need to move through the county's approval process.

For now, the practical takeaway for St. Johns County parents is simple: Catholic early childcare that was once available close to home is gone, and the nearest such option is over the county line.

For more on development and school news across the county, browse our business & development and education coverage on the St. Johns Community Website. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and X for breaking updates, and join the conversation in our Community Forum to tell us how the loss of these preschools is affecting your family.