Several playschools in St. Albert are reporting low enrolment this fall and one has even had to cancel an afternoon class because there were not enough children to fill it.
Lori Gagné, board president of the St. Albert Creative Preschool, said the facility cancelled its Starlight Class, which accepted three- to five-year-olds because of low enrolment.
She said the class had room for 22 students but only four were registered.
“We’re hoping to start the class again sometime in the spring,” GagnĂ© told the Gazette.
She said the playschool was able to fit three of the four registered children into other classes.
Operating since 1964, the preschool is one of St. Albert’s oldest and for a long time was one of only two preschools in the north end, said GagnĂ©.
“I don’t know if it’s the age of the kids. Maybe there just aren’t enough three- and four-year-olds but I know there have been more preschools,” she said.
“There’s just so many people saying, ‘Oh well, we could run a program.’”
She said low enrolment is a concern for the board.
“Yeah, because we’ve been running for 40 years and the board is just volunteer, we’re all parents,” she said. “After 40 years, we want to stay operating.”
The preschool is located out of the Victory Life Church in Mission Ridge in the same parking lot as the KinderVillage Preschool.
Another preschool, Noah’s Arc, didn’t fill up until November, according to teacher Shelley Osness. She said the facility still has one space open.
“We normally would have been full by now so there is a little bit of a decline,” Osness said. Noah’s Arc can accommodate 54 children.
“Last year we were full and we actually just filled up last week so it took until the beginning of November to fill up, which was a little rare because we normally would have been filled up in September,” said Osness.
Early childhood educator at KinderVillage, Deb Keroack, said that facility is also facing low numbers.
“I would say this year definitely enrolment is down a little bit,” said Keroack, adding KinderVillage currently has 70 kids, down from their usual 80.
Several years ago, several news outlets including the Gazette and local TV, did stories on the fact that parents often lined up for 10 hours just to get their children registered at KinderVillage.
“I think unfortunately that came back to bite us because people are thinking, ‘I’m not going to go line up for 10 hours to get in there and then find out I didn’t get in,’ said Keroack.
“I think it’s also because we’ve had several new preschools open up in St. Albert.”
One of those is the Active Kids Preschool, out of Servus Place, which opened in September and filled all 16 spots, according to recreation programmer Pam Wagil.
She said the preschool is currently running a program for thee-year-olds but hopes to expand next year.
Another organization not facing an enrolment decline this year is the Spirit in Growth in Success (SIGIS) Childcare Society, which oversees one large day care facility, in addition to numerous out-of-school care locations for children in kindergarten to Grade 6.
This past summer, SIGIS added four out-of-school care locations at Sturgeon Heights, Sir Alexander Mackenzie, Vital Grandin and Albert Lacombe schools, for a total of eight.
While she admits there are more preschools for parents to choose from, Keroack cautioned parents should do their research and choose a facility that has qualified staff.
“I think what parents have to be aware of is looking for programs that have people who are trained in early childhood so they’re aware of the developmental abilities of the children they’re working with,” she said.
There are currently 41 daycares and preschools in St. Albert.
