The Fort Smith Metis Council's new Madeline Bird Daycare is going strong after its second summer in the community.
"We just had an end-of-summer family barbecue where we invited all of our daycare families," said Kristie Vyse, the head of the Fort Smith Metis Council daycare program. "[It was a chance to] kind of come and hang out and socialize, see where their kids are spending their days."
The new daycare facility quietly opened in the spring of 2023, following about a year and a half of construction.
It was built to address a long-standing need for childcare services in the community of just under 2,300 people.
"There's always been a really great need for childcare in Fort Smith," said Vyse. "Currently we have two licensed daycare facilities and one licensed day home SA国际影视传媒� that's it for licensed full daycare."
The need for the new daycare was apparent from the moment the new facility opened, as it quickly reached capacity.
"It's been really busy," Vyse said. "We have a wait list already.
"There's a lot of interest, and we're looking at expanding into different age groups just to fulfill the need for the community."
The opening of the new facility certainly helped reduced Fort Smith's need for childcare services in the short term, but it also aims to curb the problem long-term, by collaborating with Aurora College to train staff for careers in the childcare sector.
"We actually have three staff members currently doing their college education through the daycare," Vyse said. "They have to do field placements, so not only are we working with the younger kids and the children enroled in the program, but we're also doing education for staffing as well.
"We have three people that will complete their early childhood diplomas within the school year."
While Madeline Bird Daycare's recent end-of-summer barbecue was primarily a chance for parents to get better acquainted with the place where their kids spend their days, it was also a chance for daycare staff to get feedback on the last year and a half.
According to Vyse, the feedback has been very positive.
"We've had some really amazing feedback from the parents and from the community," she said. "A lot of the parents have just been very appreciative that we're very accessible SA国际影视传媒� we're right in the downtown area.
"[They also appreciate that] we are very transparent and open and we work really closely with the families."
