By Sara Beth Williams–
A new preschool is now open in Citrus Heights, adjacent to the former SEARS building on the southern end of Sunrise Mall.
A visit to the site Tuesday found classes in session. A ribbon cutting, followed by an official grand opening celebration, is planned for Friday evening, Sept. 12. A ribbon cutting is planned from 4:30 to 5:30, with a grand opening celebration planned from 6 to 8 p.m., according to a school flyer.
“It will be a big party,” Sunrise Preschool owner and director Natalia Boyko said Thursday, adding that the grand opening is meant to be an autumn festival with free activities for Citrus Heights families to enjoy. The grand opening event will have free cotton candy, princesses and pirates, face painting, bounce houses, and crafts for kids, Boyko said.
Sunrise Montessori Preschool has had plans to occupy a vacant building adjacent to the Sears building at Sunrise Mall since mid-2024. After its approval last year, the building has been listed as “under construction” since the fall of 2024.
The center provides daycare, preschool, kindergarten, and child development classes for students ages two to 12, according to a description of the school provided to the city. Flyers at the school indicate the site also offers after-school care.
According to submitted site plan documents, each of the preschool classrooms can accommodate between 23 and 28 students. Plans indicate that the larger school-aged classroom, at 1,300 square feet, can accommodate up to 39 children, while the smaller school-aged classroom can accommodate 16 children.
In a 2024 interview, Boyko told The Sentinel that she has a “huge waitlist” of families seeking daycare in the area around the Sunrise Mall, including families from Citrus Heights and Fair Oaks.
Boyko and her husband are part of the Ukrainian community, Boyko said, and work with refugees from Ukraine and Russia to try and provide daycare. Boyko owns another childcare center called Advanced Early Childhood Education. According to the childcare center’s website, the Advanced Early Childhood Education Center is the first full-service, nonprofit preschool for Russian-speaking children.
