By Colleen Flanagan, The Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows News
A new childcare facility has opened up on the grounds of Davie Jones Elementary in Pitt Meadows.
Run by Fundamentals Childcare Centre, it will offer 59 spaces for families, including: 25 spaces for children aged three to five, 10 spaces for preschool children, and 24 spaces for school-aged children for before and after school.
However, those spots have already been filled up and there is currently a waiting list to get into the centre – about five to 10 people for the three to five program and out of school care is longer, said Fundamentals director and owner Allison Didrikson.
“Some families are struggling for September, because we filled up so quickly for Davie Jones Elementary, in particular,” she said.
The grand opening event on Friday, May 6, was attended by Minister of State for Childcare Katrina Chen, Minister of Education and Childcare Jennifer Whiteside, Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows MLA Lisa Beare, Maple Ridge Mission MLA Bob D’Eith, SD42 school board chair Korleen Carreras, along with various school board trustees and City of Pitt Meadows council members, among other guests.
The new centre has many accessible features like a wheelchair ramp and new high-efficiency mechanical systems.
“This is such a wonderful facility for the community. It is so amazing to have a school district who’s such an early adopter of childcare on school grounds,” said Beare, who noted children who attend the childcare centre will be able to transfer into the school next door seamlessly.
And, she said, it will make it easier for parents who currently have children attending Davie Jones to drop off and pick up all of their children in the one spot.