Though Humboldt’s new childcare centre in the Humboldt Public School is empty but for a pile of donations, executive director Melissa Sand and a volunteer board are working hard to get it up and running for an estimated opening date of March 2.
The idea behind the childcare centre originated from a discussion between the Horizon School Board and the Humboldt Public School (HPS). The whole process began three to five years ago, but Sand and a volunteer board have been working more actively on the childcare centre since July for its early spring opening date.
“They were thinking about renovating and moving into this school, then it became a reality and the school board worked with the Ministry of Education to design the whole facility,” Sand said.
There’s one other daycare in Humboldt, which is attached to St. Augustine School, but Sand thinks there’s room for both of them.
“We’re a city of over 5,500 people and there’s only one licensed childcare centre and there are more families moving in constantly, so there’s definitely a need,” she said.
She added that the HPS childcare centre is the only one in the city that takes infants. If a childcare centre wants to take care of infants, there are different regulations and it needs to have more staff, so Sand says it’s a bit more expensive. The childcare centre can take children from 6 weeks to 12 years.
Since the centre became more of a reality, the volunteer board has been busy making sure regulations have been followed so it can open on time.
The centre will be licensed for 51 spaces, though Sand doesn’t want to start at full capacity.
“We’re not starting off full right away and we want to make sure we have quality staff and get our program up and running, and then hopefully by the summer we hope to be at full capacity,” she said. Over the next few months, they will continue accepting kids and hiring staff. Sand estimates that there will be 10-12 full-time staff and several casual and part-time staff, and the interviewing process for that will start right away. She hopes to hire a third of the staff in the first round of interviews.
Currently, Sand is looking for donations to the daycare such as art supplies, various toys, puzzles, books, and more. Donations can be dropped off at the HPS office.
Since there’s a regulation that the centre has to have a certain amount of natural light, several rooms in the center have large windows, which Sand likes, but also mentioned they need to look into getting blinds so the kids can nap.
By having the childcare centre at HPS, Sand said this will offer advantages for both the centre and HPS.
“It’s a great opportunity for families who already have families with children who are going here because they then just have to stop once and then the children get to know the facility that they’ll be going to school in,” she said. “And it’s great to have that partnership as we have access to the gym, the computer lab, the library, and partnership programs and things like that.”
She wants to get students from HPS involved in an art or reading program, so HPS students have their “little buddies.”
“Early childhood education follows the play and exploration, which is giving children natural materials and letting them learn, so that’s through music and art and reading and free play,” she said. The centre will also offer three healthy meals a day.
The centre will be open Monday-Friday from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., excluding statutory holidays.
Sand thinks the new centre will be a worthwhile addition to Humboldt.
“I hope that it helps parents be able to feel safe leaving their children in quality care and be able to really help the early childhood education field so that more people want to take classes and get into the field,” she said.
