Learning Experience's 144-Place, 10,000-Square-Foot Vineland Child Care Center Nears Approval

Vineland's planning board approved construction of The Learning Experience, a templated 10,000-square-foot, 144-place child care center planned for 997–1011 W. Sherman Ave., near College Drive and Inspira Medical Center Vineland. The project is designed to serve children from six weeks to 6 years old and will occupy a site described in planning documents as off West Sherman Avenue.

The approval came during a Feb. 11 planning board hearing in which project attorney Jeffrey Hall opened testimony and architect Irwin Kizel outlined operations. Voting members listed on the record included Chairman Dave Manders, Vice Chairman Michael Panatlione, David Catalana, John Casadia, Councilwoman Elizabeth Arthur, Robert Odorizzi, Sandy Velez and Nilsa Rosario. A Burlington County Times photo caption identifies the meeting date as Feb. 11, 2026.

Kizel described the center's arrival and departure procedures to the board. He testified that “center staff have parents drive, and park, then take the children into a reception area to connect with their caregiver. The system reverses on pick-up.” He added that “Importantly, the drop-off and pick-up is staggered from 6:30 a.m. to ... 9 or 9:30 in the morning,” and that “And the pickup is even more staggered, because some children are there for just half a day and others are there for more than that time. ... There’s no standard start time or stop time for the children.”

A company representative told the planning board that employees at nearby Inspira Medical Center Vineland could form part of the center's client base, underscoring the site's proximity to the hospital. The facility's 144-place capacity and age range were included in testimony to the board and are noted in planning materials and press coverage.

City economic development director Sandy Forosisky said the site is being engineered by CME and provided a near-term municipal timeline: “The site is currently being engineered by CME,” and “We expect the first phase of demolition to go out to bid in March or April.” The council on Feb. 10 approved submitting a grant application to the New Jersey Urban Enterprise Zone Authority, part of a broader push by Vineland officials to assemble infrastructure funding for multiple redevelopment projects.

That broader funding context includes a 2023 U.S. Economic Development Administration grant of $3 million for water and sewer infrastructure that the city matched, an earlier request of $590,450 for engineering work, and a current municipal request to release $2.7 million from a city UEZ account for demolition and infrastructure related to the larger West Campus redevelopment. The West Campus, closed in 2013, comprises 17 buildings and a small cemetery and is being considered for conversion into a roughly 60-acre industrial park; those efforts are separate from the W. Sherman Ave. child care site.

No source released a definitive construction start date, total project cost, or specific financing tied directly to The Learning Experience building. Planning board approval on Feb. 11 clears a key municipal hurdle; city officials and the project team will need to finalize demolition bids, engineering plans from CME, and construction timelines before the center can move from approval to breaking ground.