Starting next fall, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Central and Northern New Hampshire will operate the Child Development Center (CDC). The announcement came on Tuesday, Feb. 3, when Nathalie Houder, the executive vice president for finance and administration, sent out an email detailing the decision.
According to its website, “the Boys & Girls Clubs of Central and Northern New Hampshire is the parent organization of dozens of school age programs and child care centers in Greater Concord, the Kearsarge-Sunapee Region, the Lakes Region, the North Country, Suncook and the Upper Valley.”
Houder spoke on the decision and why the college decided the Boys and Girls Clubs was the best option for the position.
“Our intent was to continue to have a quality child development program at the center,” Houder said. “We [KSC] used a very robust process, the Request for Proposal (RFP) process. We evaluated many potential providers to find the one.”
Houder described the process, saying “we look out for service providers for the system, evaluating all of our options, with participation from each of the campus representatives.”
Houder said the Boys and Girls Clubs has a “decade of experience” and that the organization “wants to expand in the area.” Houder added the organization could “take advantage of other funding sources” in a way Keene State wasn’t able to.
Houder also explained why the school decided to outsource the program in the first place.
“The CDC is subsidized by student dollars,” Houder said. “We were not able to continue it in the way it was financially.”
Houder addressed the relationship between the Elementary Education program and the CDC and how the decision will impact it.
“It’ll continue the relationship between the two, but the program is not dependent on the CDC,” Houder said.
Houder also clarified that the decision was not influenced by any faults of the CDC staff.
“The management of the CDC did not cause any of the issues,” she said. “Deidre [McPartlin] and the team have done a wonderful job managing the center.”
McPartlin declined to comment.
Chloe Erno can be contacted at
This article was updated February 13, 2026, to more accurately reflect how the CDC is subsidized.
