Skip to content

Sault College shows off new Early Learning Centre (6 photos)

Bigger, consolidated childcare centre means more kids, more lab opportunites for ECE students

Sault College celebrated the official grand opening of its Early Learning Centre Thursday.

The centre will be able to accommodate 80 children, in addition to serving as a lab for early childhood education (ECE) students at the college.

“We have a large percentage of students that are coming from out of town, many of our students are women,” said Sault College president Dr. Ron Common following Thursday morning’s ribbon-cutting event. “We have a large percentage of Aboriginal students. It’s very difficult for them to leave their communities, where they have aunties and uncles and family support to come here.”

“They bring their children, and they have to be sure that their children are looked after before they’ll enrol at Sault College, so it’s certainly something that we do to ensure that the students come here, their children are looked after, and that they can succeed in the programs,” he continued. “This is much more than a daycare, it’s an early learning centre, and so it gives access to our ECE students a living lab to come and work with the students and be exposed to best practices.”

The Early Learning Centre, which took a little under a year to complete, takes over the space once occupied by a restaurant.

Funding for the project came from a handful of sources, including the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund ($750,000), District of Sault Ste. Marie Social Services Administration Board ($350,000) and Sault College ($686,000).

Early Learning Centre manager Nancy Leindecker says that the college previously utilized two childcare sites, with no washrooms at either place.

The playgrounds weren’t on-site in one of those locations, either.

Now that the Early Learning Centre is complete, the college will also be able to house 18 more children than before, and expand their current childcare program to include infants.

“The staff are able to collaborate together, the ECE faculty are here, we’re all in one building, so we’re able to coordinate things quite easily,” Leindecker said.

The new centre also means more staff.

Right now, the college employs 19 people at the Early Learning Centre, but will increase the number of staff following a hiring process that will begin next week.

All full-time staffers at the centre, according to the college, are Sault College ECE graduates

The new learning centre expects to host placements for students in the ECE, nursing and personal support worker programs.  

“They do different opportunities in experiential learning here,” Leindecker said. “They’ll do observation in the room, they’ll do story time, they’ll learn arts and art activities with the children that they will do, and plus there’s placements.”

Liendecker says that Sault College anticipates 45 first year students for its ECE program this fall. 


What's next?


If you would like to apply to become a Verified reader Verified Commenter, please fill out this form.


Discussion


James Hopkin

About the Author: James Hopkin

James Hopkin is a reporter for SooToday in Sault Ste. Marie
Read more