More child care spaces open in the Prince Albert area

“There’s nothing in that entire east side of the city as far as licensed child care centres go. Our Dunn Drive location is the closest thing and it’s always full; full to bursting.
The Crescent Acres is one of the fastest growing areas of the city, primarily with families who have young children,” Szautner said, adding the waiting list is already getting long for the new location.

She estimates the Children’s Choice at St. Francis School will be completed around March of 2015, depending on how long it will take to have the renovations tendered and completed.

With this announcement, parents are “absolutely thrilled,” according to Szautner.

“We have families in all of our locations from the Crescent [Acres] area, and so some of our families will be transferring to St. Francis when it opens because it is in their neighbourhood and this keeps the children and neighbourhood in the same daycare centres, going to the same schools,” she said.

In addition to the new spots, Szautner said they will also be offering a before and after school programs for children in primary school—something that she describes as a huge need in the community.

As for the centre’s construction—Szautner said it will be located in the current kindergarten room on the main floor, along with two smaller nearby rooms that will be attached. It will also have its own entrance and larger windows.

This means they will be hiring seven to eight workers to staff the new location.

Children’s Choice implements the curriculum developed by the ministry of education, which is different from the traditional learning methods, Szautner explained.

“Current brain development research tells us that children learn differently than we used to think that they learn. Young children do not learn by sitting around and doing workshops and doing memos and calendars on the wall and that kind of thing. We need to allow children the time to actively engage and interact in the environment,” she said, adding the educator becomes a facilitator for this engagement.

Erin Dyck, director of Lakeland Early Learning Co-operative in Christopher Lake will also receive more child care spaces.

“We’re very excited to now be approved for two more toddler spaces. We should be relicensed for them this fall. It’s very great for our community because it is growing and we have a lot of young families moving to this area, so it will help us to accommodate the growing need for child care in our area,” Dyck said.

Currently the Lakeland Early Learning Co-operative has 48 spaces for children aged six weeks to 12. They run all-year long, including the summer at which point they cater to families who visit the area on vacation.

Dyck said they received start-up grants and have to prepare a new bathroom for the fall, so they can be licensed for the extra spaces.

The new spaces are well-timed. According to Dyck, they now have a waiting list for their infant and toddler spaces. This is due to more families living in the area, but working in Prince Albert.

Other communities receiving spaces include Lumsden, Regina, Sandy Bay, Saskatoon, St. Isodore-de-Bellevue, Swift Current, Wakaw, Warman and White City.

The Government of Saskatchewan invested $2.2 million in the budget to add the more than 500 additional child care spaces. This brings the number of funded licensed spaces in the province to more than 14,200.

sstone@panow.com

On Twitter: @sarahstone84

by Sarah Stone

More child care spaces open in the Prince Albert area

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