Happy Valley-Goose Bay child care gets a boost with 30 new spots

Happy Valley-Goose Bay's Pumpkin House will be able to house 30 more kids in after-school programs when it opens next spring.

"This is going to be absolutely fantastic," said Al Hawkins, provincial minister of education and early childhood development, on Friday.

The government has now contributed over $900,000 to theEarly Childhood Development Association to build its new facility and increase the number of spots it has available.

The after-school spots are in addition to the 30 spots already available through the Pump Kidsprogram at Peacock Primary School, and the number of spaces at both programs now total 122.

Our biggest single challenge will be working together to ensure that we have proper staff.- Colin O'Brien

But despite these andother child-care programsavailable in town for childcare, Early Childhood Development Association vice-president Colin O'Brien said there is still a huge need for more.

"We have 196 kids on our active wait list today," O'Brien said. "We're only going to address a small portion of that, some 16 new spaces as the configuration works itself into place."

He said the most critical part of creating spots for child care is finding the right workers to do the job.

"There's still a need, but our biggest single challenge will be working together to ensure that we have proper staff, early childhood educators to operate those programs," he said.

New structure

Hawkins also got a chance to tour the new Pumpkin House facility, where new siding is going up andelectrical work is being done.

"Our goal is to see this building open this spring," Obrien said.

He said Pumpkin House is able to keep costs low for parents, with one-third of the operating costs coming from a provincial government grant. He said it will cost parents$14.50 a dayforafter-school programs and $33per day for a toddler.

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