The Bonnyville and District Early Learning and Childcare Centre is raising the future of Bonnyville, and things can only get better from here.
On Wednesday, Oct. 18, the local daycare hosted their grand opening, with Minister of Children's Services Danielle Larivee there to celebrate the three-year funding agreement between the daycare and the provincial government.
With the funding, the local centre has been able to expand in more ways than one.
“When the funding came through, our status went up that one notch, and now we are an Alberta Early Learning and Childcare Centre,” explained director of the Bonnyville and District Early Learning and Childcare Centre Kim Harvie.
The grant also allowed for an expansion to their curriculum, training, hours, classes, and staff.
“Our normal fees ranged anywhere from $900 to $1,020 per month, depending on the age of your children. Now, it's straight, flat, across the board, $25 per day,” Harvie expressed. “Affordability was definitely one of the biggest things, and that's by allowing parents to have the option to go back to work affordably. We did have some families who just weren't able to go back to work because they have two or three children and $3,000 a month for childcare was more money than what they were bringing home. It just didn't make sense.”
The centre has also increased their staff from nine to 28, and they're still growing.
Harvie said, “This time last year we had 26 children, and nine staff. We now have 85 children, not counting all of our drop-ins.”
With the help of the Town of Bonnyville, the daycare was able to increase their number of classrooms from two to four. That has allowed for the continued growth of the centre.
They have also extended their hours, including an even earlier drop off, and weekend care.
“We didn't extend them later in the evening, because we haven't had a need yet, but we did extend them in the morning,” Harvie said.
They are now beginning the process of adapting it to the Alberta Play, Participation, and Possibilities curriculum. It will be phased in over the next two years.
But, the funding provides more than just more space, longer hours, and a better curriculum. It also gives parents a piece of mind.
“We didn't have a lot of licensed quality childcare in our town. Some parents didn't want to go back to work because they were fearful of not being able to find quality or safe childcare,” continued Harvie.
During the grand opening, Larivee took a moment to congratulate the daycare centre on their successful application, shedding some light on the importance of these centres within communities across the province.
Larivee explained how the funding helped open 22 Alberta Early Learning and Childcare Centres.
“It was incredibly exciting to be able to let the people of Bonnyville know that they would be able to access one of these truly innovative programs,” she expressed. “It's a warm, bright, and nurturing place.”
Bonnyville-Cold Lake MLA Scott Cyr also commented on the facility, and about the importance of the funding.
“It's things like this that show the government is looking out for northeastern Alberta,” Cyr said. “Every time I come here, it's a little different, it's a little better. This new funding shows that it's growing, and that means that our community is growing. This is good for Alberta. Overall, I am very pleased to see that we're moving in a positive direction.”
Town of Bonnyville Mayor Gene Sobolewski shared the common saying ‘it takes a village to raise a child,' touching on the pitch to council to expand the childcare centre.
“We jumped on it,” he laughed. “It was such a fantastic idea. That is one thing that we recognized, was the need for these facilities here, and the need to grow these facilities. Something had to happen because we were bursting at the seams.”
He continued, “When we heard the news… we jumped for joy, because this embraces the entire concept of what our council and what the MD are all about. It's all about our youth. We support them, they are not only the future MLAs and doctors, but they are our future, period.”
