Mrs. D’s Playschool will be moving to the Sonora Community Centre because space won’t be available for them at Osoyoos Elementary School in the fall. (Richard McGuire photo)

A popular and successful playschool program that has been shut down at Osoyoos Elementary School due to lack of space has found a new home a few metres away at the Sonora Community Centre.

Grizela Dos Santos, the owner and operator of Mrs. D’s Playschool had officially asked Town of Osoyoos council about renting space at the Sonora Community Centre after discovering the space she was using at the local elementary school would not be available this coming September.

On Monday, members of town council voted unanimously in favour of allowing Dos Santos and staff from Mrs. D’s Playschool to use the craft room located on the second floor of the Sonora Centre, starting in September.

“Mrs. D’s Playschool is currently located at Osoyoos Elementary. Unfortunately, it will have to relocate in September due to new class size regulations,” said Sarah Dynneson, a longtime staff member with the community services department with the town. “The preschool is licensed through Interior Health and it has to be inspected in order to operate.

“This playschool will be an asset for parents and children entering school, especially its close proximity to the elementary school.”

The playschool can utilize the craft room on the second floor as it is rarely used and it large enough to accommodate the children that will be enrolled starting in September, said Dynneson.

The current registration is 16 students – eight in the morning and eight in the afternoon class – and registration would be limited to the licensing requirement of 3.7 square metres per child, she said.

“We will need to work out a formal agreement and make sure all licensing issues are addressed,” said Dynneson. “Any changes or upgrades would be the responsibility of the preschool.”

The playschool would operate Monday through Friday, with the morning session taking place from 8:45 until 11:45 a.m. and the second session beginning at 11:45 a.m. and continuing until 2:15 p.m.

The Sonora Centre would still run all of its regular programs out of the craft room as they would not interfere with this schedule.

“Most of the programs (using the craft room) are after school, evenings and into the weekend,” said Dynneson. “One obstacle would be storage for our craft supplies, but we do have some options. We have ample storage areas on the second floor and we can make that work.”

During an earlier presentation to council on Monday, Dos Santos said she has been running Mrs. D’s Playschool in Kaleden with great success for nine years and she plans on hiring staff in Osoyoos as she will continue to run the program in Kaleden.

She already has 16 children registered for the playschool in September and would like to add a maximum of another eight, she said.

“I would never take more than eight in any one class” and would hire extra staff if more children register, she said.

Being able to operate out of the Sonora Centre would allow her to continue to access community facilities and amenities like the new fire hall, Okanagan Public Library branch in Osoyoos and Osoyoos Museum as she likes to arrange day trips for the youngsters enrolled in the program, she said.

Having children attend playschool has proven to be very successful for children and parents as young ones get ready to attend school full-time once they reach age five and attend kindergarten, said Dos Santos.

Dos Santos wanted to thank the staff at Osoyoos Elementary School for allowing her to operate the playschool program from that location during the last school year and she’s thrilled to have found a new home just up the street in the Sonora Centre.

Having the playschool remain in Osoyoos will help a lot of local parents as some were driving to Oliver every day before she brought Mrs. D’s Playschool to Osoyoos last year, said Dos Santos.

Dos Santos will pay a fee of $500 per month to the town to use the craft room at the Sonora Centre after she signs a formal working agreement to continue the playschool program.

KEITH LACEY

Osoyoos Times