Grand opening for Tillsonburg Little School
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Countless hours have gone into making the Tillsonburg Little School a reality.
And the hard work paid off. On Thursday, the daycare centre held its official grand opening, and board vice-president Sarah Bruder was almost bubbling with enthusiasm.
"Here we are as Tillsonburg Little School and we’re so excited about it," said Bruder during the ribbon cutting ceremony in front of Tillsonburg Little School on King Street.
"I want to say thanks to the board and all the staff for making our vision a reality."
A smiling group of four ‘Little People’ lined up to cut the ceremonial red ribbon – Kate and Jack Bruder, Wyatt Brown and Brennan Kelly. After the first successful ribbon-cutting, and much cheering, the ribbon was replaced so each of the children could take their turn cutting, with more cheering.
Tillsonburg Little School had opened January 27, 2014, said Bruder, on the day of a snowstorm. Two kids showed up on Day 1, including her daughter.
“And we’re now over 20 families. We’re closer to where we want to be now than on the 27th of January,” she smiled. “Two kids on the first day… my little one, and another little guy.”
Little School has its origins in First Baptist Daycare, which closed about three years ago.
“My little guy went there," said Bruder. "They were open for 40 years, and we wanted to carry on that tradition. So we put together a committee of parents and staff members from First Baptist, because we had about a year-and-a-half heads up that they were closing. First Baptist had such a community reputation – we have Miss Wendy here, she was at First Baptist for 40 years. So there’s a tradition, a history.
“It’s a place where kids can have fun and learn, be safe, and be well taken care of. We just wanted to continue that tradition and that reputation of solid care. A place where we can help kids get ready for Kindergarten, especially with it being the full day now.”
The committee reached out to community partners, including E&E McLaughlins, who bought the building on King Street.
“They tore it down to the studs for us and it was about a two-year project. And lots of support from the County of Oxford and the Ministry of Education.
“John Lessif really helped out with connecting us to the county, and supporting this project.”
The committee eventually became the Tillsonburg Little School board of directors, which currently has six members.
“It’s a volunteer board of directors that have put about seven trillion hours into this venture,” she laughed, “to make it the beautiful place it is today.”
The capacity is 42 children, and they currently serve more than 20 families.
The daycare is operates year-round, and they hope to be near capacity in the fall.
“We do have openings right now. We serve 18-month olds up to six-year-olds, but with full-day Kindergarten happening in the fall… not too many will not six year olds will opt out.”
A summer day program will be available in July and August for 5-6 year olds.
“First Baptist had closed for the month of July, but we opted to stay open. In talking to parents, that month always caused a little bit of confusion, in trying to line up childcare.”
Hours are available from 6:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Monday to Friday. Contact them at 519-842-5628 or by email at tillsonburglittleschool@hotmail.com. The website, currently under construction, will be tillsonburglittleschool.ca.