Media Release
Macaulay Tree House Expanding to Create Brand New Childcare Centre in Bracebridge
August 14, 2018 (Bracebridge, ON) — Macaulay Tree House (“Tree House”), in collaboration with the District Municipality of Muskoka (District), is pleased to announce it will be opening a new childcare centre in Bracebridge in 2019. The new centre will serve children from 3 months to 4 years of age, providing licensed child care. This will meet the demand for 73 additional, affordable early childhood education spaces in the Muskoka community.
“We are thrilled to be able to help meet the demand for safe and quality childcare in Muskoka,” said Leesa Horsfield, the Tree House’s Executive Director. “Parents in our community deserve access to affordable childcare that meets the Ministry of Education’s high service standards.” The Tree House is honoured to have been awarded the funding for the building of the new centre by the Ministry of Education’s Community-Based Early Years and Child Care Capital Program (CBCP).
According to a recently released study by the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, less than half the children in Bracebridge and Gravenhurst have an available childcare space. “We recognized the necessity for these childcare spaces well over a year ago, based on our wait list and conversations with parents and the District, and submitted an application for funding to the Ministry of Education. We are so grateful to have been selected so that we can be an integral part of the early childhood education solution in our community.”
“Access to additional, affordable, quality child care is essential to Muskoka’s vitality and prosperity,” said John Klinck, District Chair. “Council is so pleased to be partnering with Macaulay Tree House to bring these much needed spaces into reality, as they are critical to our community and economic development goals for the District.”
On July 16, 2018, District Council authorized a 10-year land lease agreement with the Tree House so that the new centre can be built on land adjacent to the Tree House’s current centre. The District will also oversee the building of the new centre and provide ongoing support once it is up and running, as is the case with the Tree House’s current operations.
Just as with Macaulay Tree House’s current centre, the new centre’s approach to early childhood education will align with How Does Learning Happen? – Ontario’s Pedagogy for the Early Years – 2014.
Macaulay Tree House is a non-profit organization, licensed by the Ministry of Education, and has been providing quality child care in our community since 1990.
Media Release: Macaulay Tree House Expanding to Create Brand New Childcare Centre in Bracebridge >>
