A new, 85-space child care centre is currently under construction next to the Park House condominium complex. The Centre will feature 37 spaces for children ages 30 months to school-age and 48 spaces for school-aged children. (Images shown are renderings and may not reflect the finished Centre).
Raise Up Our Kids
Raise Up Our Kids, a
Collective Impact initiative, is working to launch a Community School Hub at Nusdeh Yoh Elementary School. The hub will help service providers and agencies work together to provide children and families with the support they need for better health and well-being.
Why Raise Up Our Kids?
Northern B.C. children tend to be less healthy compared to their peers living in other areas of the province according to the
2016 Health Status Report on Child Health.
Establishing Nusdeh Yoh as a service hub will ensure children and families can access services that best meets their needs.
Raise Up Our Kids" is a collective impact initiative that is bringing community partners together to address children's health.
Life-long health and wellness are strongly influenced by certain aspects of people’s lives:
- Their families and communities.
- The resources available to them.
- Their sense of connectedness with their peers.
Community School Hub Development
The Raise Up Our Kids team believes deeper alignment across systems - including health, education and social services - is critical to increasing access to opportunities for all students. A community hub has the potential to transform its neighborhood and the lives of children, youth, and families who live there. By adopting a cross-sector, systems-based approach, we can begin to overcome the barriers experienced by students and their families.
After a series of consultations in 2016-17, the City of Prince George and community partners identified the development of a community hub in a school setting as having the potential to achieve the vision of systems transformation.
A stakeholder session in April 2018, along with 17 extensive community engagement sessions with families, Elders, school staff, and neighborhood residents helped gather stories, experiences, and advice on the development of a hub at the
Nusdeh Yoh Elementary School. The Raise Up Our Kids team will test the hub model concept at the school with grant funding support from Vancouver Foundation.
2020 Vancouver Foundation Test Grant
The Raise Up Our Kids team comprised of representatives from the City of Prince George, Nusdeh Yoh Elementary, Prince George Native Friendship Centre, and BC Ministry of Children and Family Development believes that deeper alignment across systems - including health, education and social services - is critical to increasing access to opportunity for all students.
A community hub has the potential to transform the Nusdeh Yoh neighborhood and the lives of children, youth and families that live there by implementing a cross-sector, systems approach that addresses the barriers experienced by students and their families in this neighborhood.
With grant funding from Vancouver Foundation, the Raise Up Our Kids team plans to “test” the hub model concept. Implementation activities at the hub are anticipated to begin September 2021.
For more information:
2018-2020 Vancouver Foundation Development Grant
After a series of consultations in 2016-17, the City of Prince George and community partners identified the development of a community hub in a school setting as having the potential to achieve the vision of systems transformation.
With a Vancouver Foundation Develop Grant, the working group hosted a stakeholder session in April 2018, along with 17 extensive community engagement sessions with families, Elders, school staff, neighborhood residents helped gather stories, experiences and advice on the development of the hub.
For more information:
Childcare Space Creation
The City’s Child Care Action Plan provided a number of recommendations regarding the development of new childcare spaces. The action plan, informed by data collection and community engagement activities, was completed at the same time the Province of BC began investing in childcare care space creation, building childcare facilities, and training early childhood educators.
The BC New Spaces Creation Fund and the Union of BC Municipalities Childcare Space Creation Fund have - together - provided approximately $9.3 million to the City of Prince George to enable development of a total of
228 new childcare spaces on three sites:
1075 - 6th Avenue (YMCA Park House Care and Learning Centre)
The Park House Care and Learning Centre will feature 85 spaces:
- 12 spaces for infants and toddlers.
- 25 spaces for children aged 30 months to school-age.
- 48 spaces for school-aged children
PLANNED OPENING: Early 2022
About the Operator
The YMCA, as centre operator, will implement the "YMCA Playing to Learn" national curriculum for children aged zero to six and the "YMCA - A Place to Connect" curriculum for children six to twelve years.
These guiding frameworks align well with the new BC Early Learning Framework, and the curricula provide a focus on play-based learning in a home-like environment. By carefully observing each child, providers can extend opportunities to enhance unique learning and development needs at every stage.
6776 Dagg Road (Tsulh'cho Daycare/Huckleberry Daycare)
The Tsulh'cho Daycare/Huckleberry Daycare at 6776 Dagg Road will feature 60 spaces:
- 24 spaces for infants and toddlers.
- 24 spaces for children aged 30 months to school-age.
- 12 spaces for school-aged children.
PLANNED OPENING: Late 2022
About the Operator
The Prince George Native Friendship Centre’s (PGNFC) childcare centres are based on the Family Centre model, meaning that its centres strive to meet the needs of the entire family. The organization understands that without the support of a healthy family, children will not thrive. In addition, PGNFC works to involve parents in all aspects of planning, programming and governance of its childcare centres.
PGNFC works in partnership with many community organizations such as School District #57, Northern Health, the Child Development Centre, the College of New Caledonia, UNBC, the Ministry of Children & Family Development, the City of Prince George, Lheidli T’enneh, the Immigrant and Multicultural Services Society, and the Aboriginal Housing Society of Prince George.
8008 Malaspina Avenue (As-yet Unnamed Childcare Centre)
The as-yet-unnamed childcare centre at 8008 Malaspina Avenue will feature 83 spaces:
- 24 spaces for infants and toddlers.
- 25 spaces for children aged 30 months to school-age.
- 24 spaces for school-aged children.
- 10 pre-school spaces (for a total of 20 preschoolers attending on a part-time schedule).
PLANNED OPENING: Early 2023
About the Operator
Kool Cats Kid Care (College Heights Community Association) has been providing childcare services for 35 years. It currently operates 45 school age childcare spaces and 20 preschool spaces, serving a total of 140 children (given its capacity to accommodate part-time before/after school care participants, and multiple pre-school classes).