The Rocky Mountain Child Care Facility, built in the Marysville area of Kimberley, B.C. by School District 6 (SD6) through the ChildCare BC New Spaces Fund, was recently completed on time and under budget by $1 million.
"This project certainly represents an example of what can be accomplished through exemplary community collaboration," said SD6 superintendent Aaron Callaghan. "Our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone involved in this undertaking, from the design and construction teams to the supportive community members who have shown unwavering commitment to this project including the City of Kimberley and Columbia Basin Trust.
"We are especially grateful to our partner, Summit Community Services Society, whose expertise and dedication will now bring this facility to life, providing essential child care services for families in Marysville and the surrounding communities.”
The public was invited to tour the new facility, located on the grounds of Marysville Elementary School, at an open house held on Monday, Jan. 6, which was attended by over 200 people.
SD6, alongside Summit Community Services and with funding from Columbia Basin Trust, applied to the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund in summer 2022. The fund is supported by provincial investments and federal funding under the 2021-2022 to 2025-2026 Canada-British Columbia Canada-wide Early Learning and Child Care Agreement.
The facility has the capacity for 24 spaces for children under 36 months, 100 group child spaces for 30 months to school age, and 24 spaces for school-aged care on the school grounds. Summit said that after an inspection with Interior Health, their license has been approved and they have now submitted applications to the Child Care Operating Fund (CCOF), the Child Are Fee Reduction Incentive (CCFRI), and the Early Childhood Educator Wage Enhancement.
"We have already hired a Child Care Director who has worked hard to prepare all our licensing documents and now that the license has been approved by Interior Health and Summit has successfully been approved for the child care operating funds, staffing is underway," said Summit executive director Martina Danzer.
"Our goal is to open one program for each designation (under 36 months, 30 months to school age, school-aged care on school grounds) while we continue to recruit more staff and work toward opening all spaces in each program."
Summit has now received approval for these programs and will be opening their doors and providing childcare starting March 3, 2025.
“Young families continue to be our fastest growing demographic," said Kimberley Mayor Don McCormick. "This new Rocky Mountain Childcare facility will put a huge dent in the demand for everything from toddler to after school care. We thank SD6, Summit Community Services Society and Columbia Basin Trust for making Kimberley one of the early recipients of the ChildCareBC New Spaces Fund.”
Registration for a system-generated lottery to allocate spaces in the facility opens on Monday, Feb. 10 and ends on Feb. 14. Visit summitfamily.ca to find the registration forms for your child or children during this time period only. Upon completion of the form, parents will get an electronic confirmation of the successful registration for the lottery, to take place on Feb. 18. Successful families are to be contacted by Feb. 21 at the latest.
“This new facility is so much more than a building; it represents our collective efforts in fostering the growth and development of our youngest learners," said director of instruction Crystal MacLeod. "We look forward to seeing the positive impacts it will have on our local communities for years to come.”
