By Andrea Arnold
Robson Valley Community Services has been operating a fully licenced playschool in the basement of their McBride location at 942 3rd Ave. Recently, through grant funding, they have been able to increase their capacity and their square footage by renovating the back portion of their building.
This new area also allows for universal accessibility, removing barriers that existed in the previous space.
Early Childhood Educator Lotta Rauter and assistants Charlene Jones and Stacey Kendall are looking forward to welcoming nine additional children when sessions resume in September.
The new renovation serves as more than just the preschool space. As preschool sessions run on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, Jones also uses the space for the indoor Family Drop In sessions on Monday mornings.
During Family Drop In, the new room is divided into an area for crafts and messy activities, a seating area for parents to socialize, a play area and a fenced yard.
“We wanted to provide a more inclusive accessible space,” said Acting Executive Director Jana MacMaster. “We wanted to increase our space to grow the program from 10 children to 19. We were fortunate to receive grant funds for this capital project.”
The basement area is still being used for student cubbies, as well as a space for speech and physical therapy sessions.
For September registration information, please contact RVCS directly.
