Child care centre first step to a new school

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This article was published 06/07/2011 (5189 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A new child care centre for Sage Creek is the first step towards a school being built in the neighbourhood.
The provincial government pledged $1.5 million for the development of the centre with 74 new spaces in Sage Creek on June 22.

The government also committed $1.5 million towards a new 74-space early-learning child care facility next to Highbury School in River Park South.

MLA Erin Selby, whose Southdale constituency includes Sage Creek, said the province has developed plans for the facility while Little Bo-Peep Early Learning Centre, based in Windsor Park, has submitted an application to operate the new centre.

Selby said the Sage Creek centre is the first phase in the development of an elementary school for the area, in accordance with the new Preparing Students for Success Act, which mandates that all new school and major renovations include child care centres.

“In the case of Sage Creek, we just know that — because it’s a young and growing community — the need for the daycare is there, and we can foresee that the need for the school is coming,” Selby explained.

“At this point there just isn’t the numbers of (school-aged children) to justify the school being built quite yet,” she said.

“But they need the daycare immediately, and the school will follow.”

The planning and design work for the new school is set to begin in 2011-12, with the new child care centre scheduled to open no later than September 2013, Selby added.

“Right now we’re at the point where the public school board, along with the Louis Riel School Division, is looking at finding the right-sized school space,” she said.

Sage Creek parent Marcie Wilson said she was thrilled with the announcement of a new child care centre in her community.

“It’s an up-and-coming neighbourhood, obviously, and one of the things that appealed to us is that it’s a place where you can live your whole life,” she said, explaining the development is set to have a retail district and a mix of housing.

Despite this, Wilson’s three-year-old daughter currently needs to leave the community for child care, attending Little Bo-Peep Early Learning Centre in Windsor Park.

That’s why the news of the child care centre is so exciting, she said.

“It was a huge weight off my shoulders when we found out,” Wilson said.

Grace Howard, director of Little Bo-Peep, also expressed excitement about operating a second site.

The new centre will have 16 spaces for infants, 40 spaces for preschoolers and 15 spaces for school-aged children, she said, adding that diversity of spaces will serve the needs of the community.

“Sage Creek is a new family centre,” she said. “We’ve seen a huge need for child care.”

Louis Riel School Division superintendent Terry Borys said the school board welcomes both the Sage Creek and Highbury announcements.

“This is the most desirous thing,” he said. “You save space this way.”

The school division is especially pleased by the province’s assurances that a school is in the forecast for Sage Creek, Borys said, adding Louis Riel officials have been asking the province for a new elementary in the area for more than five years.

“This is good news for us,” Borys said.

Selby added that in April, the province also committed funding for another stand-alone day care centre in Sage Creek, which will be operated as a satellite site by St. Vital-based Faith Children’s Centre.

The government has committed $347,500 towards the 74-space centre.

arielle.godbout@canstarnews.com