“We are super excited,” said Campus Day Care supervisor Karen Whitford, who has been with Campus Kids for seven years. “This will be Dawson Creek’s first infant and toddler centre, dedicated to the development of children from six months to three year’s old that is open to the public.”
Whitford said that the funding will be used to completely gut and recreate presently unutilized space so that there will be two working environments created for infant and toddlers and for children aged three to five years old, which is the age group that the day care currently serves.
“This funding will allow us to do major renovations that will include child-sized bathroom facilities, and completely new furnishings and equipment – this is a really big deal for us and we are very appreciative that our funding application was granted by the ministry,” she said.
Campus Kids Day Care is not affiliated with Northern Lights College and is a privately owned daycare enterprise, but the College benefits from having the operation on its campus in so many ways.
“Campus Kids has periodically provided practicum spaces for the College’s Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) students,” said Anndra Graff, vice president of Finance and Corporate Services. “Our students and staff also benefit from having a day care on campus for their children because they are a priority on waitlists.”
“As an education partner with Campus Kids, we are also very pleased that this funding was approved at a time when major growth is forecasted for the area, which will result in extra child care spaces being needed by families moving into the Peace Region,” added Graff. “The College’s ECEC program is internationally attended because it’s online, and for the first time since 1998 we will be offering face-to-face instruction in the Dawson Creek and Fort St. John Campus classrooms.
For more information on the Early Childhood Education and Care Program, visit https://www.nlc.bc.ca/Programs/All-Programs-Alphabetical/Early-Childhood-Education-and-Care-Diploma.