THUNDER BAY – LIVING – Back to school in the early education market has been repainted. After 38 years, one of Thunder Bay’s most well-known community daycares is rebranding. George Jeffrey/Sherbrooke Community Day Care is changing its name to Little George’s Child Care, the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre announced today.
Tom Walters, Chief Executive Officer, George Jeffrey Children’s Centre says, “There’s a misconception that George Jeffrey/Sherbrooke Community Day Care exclusively services special needs children and their families in Thunder Bay. With many local families struggling to find daycare, we realized it was time to strengthen our brand and better communicate that we are in fact open to all children–just like any other daycare.”
Historically, the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre was a specialist daycare provider for special needs children. The daycare was previously located within the George Jeffrey Children’s Centre so that special needs child could receive their rehabilitation treatment and services, and have access to special toys and equipment. This mandate changed in 2008 when the Ontario government changed its policies requiring all publicly funded daycares to be connected to a public school.
George Jeffrey Children’s Centre relocated its daycare facility to the Northwood Best Start Hub, located in Sherbrooke School in 2008. For almost a decade, the Centre has offered full and part-time daycare for children aged 18 months to 5 years, as well as before and after-school programming. After almost ten years, many families still believe that the daycare is only available to special needs children.
Walters adds, “The goal of rebranding is to fill our available daycare spaces and ensure that families are not struggling without quality childcare. We constantly hear about waitlists and working families who cannot find available child care. We want those families to know that Little George’s Child Care is open and accessible to them.”
An official Grand Opening celebration was hosted today to launch Little George’s Child Care and announce that they are accepting enrollments.
