Exterior construction on The Gatehouse's Early Learning Childcare Academy is almost complete, and interior construction is scheduled to be finished by summer at its location near 670 Westport Parkway, Grapevine.

The Academy will begin accepting applications to its learning program for children starting this summer.

The $4.5 million building will include eight classrooms, a 4,550 square-foot gym, two playgrounds and a kitchen. When it opens this fall it will serve approximately 150 Gatehouse children at discounted rates and 150 area children at fair-market rates.

The Gatehouse, located on 61 acres in Grapevine, is a privately funded supportive living community that features 96 apartments for women and their children. As part of the individually tailored Independent Life Program, women and their children can stay at The Gatehouse for up to 2 1/2 years and receive services such as food, clothes, cars, auto maintenance, medical treatment, dental treatment, legal aid, financial literacy training, career development guidance, child care, professional counseling, and higher education as part of building new lives and ending cycles of abuse and poverty.

817-912-0317. www.gatehousegrapevine.com