Citrus Heights Preschool property listed for sale, after abrupt closure

By Sara Beth Williams–
The property formerly home to Citrus Heights Preschool is for sale, according to a Century 21 Select Real Estate sign posted in front of the campus.

The preschool, located at 7555 Old Auburn Rd., previously closed with little warning in May, according to prior reports.

The sale of the property is not listed publicly online, and the agent listed on the sign outside did not return multiple requests for comment on how much the property is selling for.

In an agenda packet for the upcoming Citrus Heights City Council meeting scheduled for July 10, the two parcels that make up the preschool property are listed for discussion under closed session. Limited details are provided on the agenda packet, but the city and Stoney Investments LLC are listed as negotiating parties, with “price, terms of payment, or both,” listed as being under negotiation.

The preschool’s abrupt closure left parents scrambling to find new childcare. The Sentinel reached out to previous employees of Citrus Heights Preschool regarding the closure and staffing challenges. One former employee declined to comment, and others did not return a request for comment.

Century 21 Real Estate Agent Michael Thompson spoke with The Sentinel in June following initial reports of the school’s closure and said original owner Robert Dunkenson opened the school in August of 1970 with his two daughters. Later in 1993, Dunkenson sold the property to Herb Stone, and asked him to continue to utilize the property as a school. Stone “kept his word” and ran the school with his wife, Gail Stone, and longtime employee, Patty Newton, Thompson said.

Stone passed away in 2022, and since then the family has been “in transition” but hopes to reopen the school in the fall, according to Thompson.

“The family would like to thank everyone that left kind words for Herb Stone, as his graciousness will never be forgotten,” Thompson said.

The preschool indicates on its website that the privately owned school originated in 1970 as a one-building preschool before acquiring a second adjacent building. The preschool included programs for infants, preschoolers, prekindergarten, and school-aged children.