Abby’s Learning Academy will open the first of the year in Landrum, in the building formerly known as Kids Palace Learning Center at 103 S. Lee Ave. According to owner Abby Sherer, she is leasing the building from Billy and Shirlene Inman, former operators of Kids Palace, which closed in August.

The daycare center will be licensed for 75 children, age birth to 12, and will offer before and after school care. School pick-ups will also be arranged.

Sherer is currently in the process of sprucing up the interior and playgrounds of the center in preparation for the opening.

“Everything will be all new, from equipment, shelves, cribs, and toys. The playgrounds will be redone,” she added. The facility has two playgrounds, six classrooms, bathrooms, and a kitchen. All food will be prepared there including breakfast, lunch and an afternoon snack. She added that all staff will have first aid and CPR training.

Sherer says that the center hopes to enroll children who were relocated to other centers in August when Kids Palace closed. Abby’s Learning Academy will accept North Carolina DSS vouchers and South Carolina ABC vouchers.

Abby Sherer owns and operates other daycare centers in the area, including Abby’s Learning Center in Columbus, open since 1990, and Abby’s Learning Center in Flat Rock, in business since 2000.

Sherer said she went into the daycare business after working for the Department of Social Services. At the time, she did not like the daycare options available for children who she was placing, so she decided to start her own daycare. All five of her children went through her daycares, she said.

Parents, guardians and prospective teachers can contact Pam Jolley at Abby’s Learning Academy in Columbus at 828-894-8125 for enrollment or employment information for the Landrum center.