The province has given Windsor-Essex Catholic District School Board approval to tender a child care addition to Stella Maris Catholic Elementary School. The $2.1M investment will add a new, quality learning environment for the students of Amherstburg. This project is part of the province’s capital investment program to build more child care spaces for Ontario’s families.

“The funding for this child care addition to Stella Maris Catholic  School is a fantastic development,” said Rick Nicholls, MPP for Chatham-Kent-Leamington. “This investment will provide flexibility for families and opportunity for the children of Amherstburg.” 

“From modernizing our curriculum to revitalizing our classrooms and their facilities, we are investing in our students and giving them every tool to achieve their full potential,” said Education Minister Stephen Lecce. “Our financing of the child care addition to Stella Maris Separate School further demonstrates our government’s historic investment in Ontario’s schools and child cares, as well as our overall commitment to supporting our students and families.”

“This centre will provide a wonderful new level of convenience for our Stella Maris families,” said Superintendent Melissa Farrand, who oversees child care services for WECDSB. “It will include an infant room, a toddler room and two pre-school rooms, which will help make for a seamless transition for students when they enroll in our kindergarten at Stella Maris.”

Creative Child Learning Centre, currently located on Murray Street in Amherstburg, will be the new operator and will move in to the new addition once it’s complete. The company was the successful bidder as the result of request for proposal process that occurred in 2018. Michelle DiCarlo, Executive Director of Creative Child, said she’s delighted to be moving in to the new location.

“We’ve already been providing a Before and After program at Stella Maris and it’s a wonderful neighbourhood community school,” she said. “We have a proven track record of providing quality child care and look forward to expanding our services for even more families at Stella Maris.”

“This is wonderful news for our community,” said Frank DiTomasso, the WECDSB Trustee for Amherstburg and Lasalle. “Working families need affordable, quality child care and they’ll be able to get that now in a beautiful new facility. I’m really looking forward to seeing this project get started.”

To create new opportunities for Ontario’s families, the government is investing up to $1 billion to create up to 30,000 new child care spaces in schools over the next five years. The Ford Government announced in Budget 2019 that over the next ten years, including nearly $13 billion in capital grants. This year will see those capitol grants provide $500M for new schools, additions and major renovations.

Stella Maris Catholic Elementary School is located at 140 Girard St. Amherstburg.

Highlights of the child care addition include:

• 73 new child care spaces
• 4 new child care rooms