As families continue to struggle when it comes to finding suitable childcare throughout the Sea to Sky corridor, the Whistler Waldorf School is doing what it can to help.
Whistler Waldorf is doubling the number of licensed group childcare spaces it currently offers by opening a second satellite program, to be located at the Sea to Sky Community Services building in Spring Creek, the school announced this week.
That equates to 16 new licensed group childcare spaces, intended for children aged two-and-a-half years (30 months) to school age, with minimum two-day or multi-day program options available.
The new Spring Creek centre is projected to open later this fall.
As Rubeena Sandhu, Whistler Waldorf's Head of School explains, the new Spring Creek program will follow a similar format to Whistler Waldorf School's pre-existing Little Cedars program, while reflecting Waldorf's educational principles.
"Waldorf playschool is a place for nurturing and cultivating a child's intrinsic curiosity and natural propensity to learn through play," she said in the release.
"It is a developmentally-appropriate learning environment where child-directed creative play, story time, artistic activities and outdoor exploration are teaching children essential skills. As a registered not-for-profit society, we appreciate the access to funding to help us deal with the strong demand for playschool spaces and look forward to serving more families in the Whistler and Pemberton communities."
These new childcare spaces are jointly funded by the Childcare BC New Spaces Fund, the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation, the Resort Municipality of Whistler and the Community Foundation of Whistler. "Numerous individuals have also supported this important initiative by giving generously at Whistler Waldorf School's annual fundraising gala," the release added.
Because the Whistler Waldorf School is an approved participant in B.C.'s Child Care Fee Reduction Initiative, the centre may also provide a reduction of up to $350 per month per child as part of the 2019/20 Child Care Operating Funding Program, according to the release.
Families looking to learn more are encouraged to visit whistlerwaldorf.com/earlyyearscentre or contact [email protected] to submit an application package.
