When the expansion of our church was being planned back in 2005, one idea that received unanimous support was a well designed nursery area. In addition to Sunday services, one of the possible uses discussed was a weekday nursery school to provide a place for community parents to confidently leave their children in a nurturing environment.
While plans for our own nursery school have yet to move forward, we will have the opportunity, starting Monday October 31st, to welcome many more children into our church as part of our latest rental. Renee, the owner of an established community nursery school run out of the Courtice Clubhouse, contacted us to see if they could use Hope Fellowship for up to 12 months while they work on establishing themselves on their own property in Courtice. Renee is a longtime friend of Nicole Broersma and had talked with her before we finished construction. She recalled that we were building an addition that would include a large nursery area so she approached us in July and we’ve been working since then to sort out the necessary details and approvals with the various government agencies.
The program starting on Monday will involve our Youth Room and Room 127 being used before (6-9 am) and after (3-6 pm) school. Our Preschool room will also be used during the day for a smaller nursery school program for younger children.
To accommodate the needs of these activities, we’ve made some room for toys and equipment and will move some items out of sight during the week. We’ve also agreed to some renovations to our old kitchen in the East Wing and have designated it a Peanut Free space. We ask for your cooperation in keeping any peanuts or peanut containing products out of that room. As well, Renee has asked to create a small fenced playground at the east end of the building so that she can provide some fresh air for her charges in a secure environment.
While the approval process and preparations have been challenging at times, we’ve been able to both support Renee and learn a bit more about hosting a nursery school in our building – knowledge we can tuck away in case we need it ourselves in the future.
- Chris Ritskes, Administrative Coordinator
While plans for our own nursery school have yet to move forward, we will have the opportunity, starting Monday October 31st, to welcome many more children into our church as part of our latest rental. Renee, the owner of an established community nursery school run out of the Courtice Clubhouse, contacted us to see if they could use Hope Fellowship for up to 12 months while they work on establishing themselves on their own property in Courtice. Renee is a longtime friend of Nicole Broersma and had talked with her before we finished construction. She recalled that we were building an addition that would include a large nursery area so she approached us in July and we’ve been working since then to sort out the necessary details and approvals with the various government agencies.
The program starting on Monday will involve our Youth Room and Room 127 being used before (6-9 am) and after (3-6 pm) school. Our Preschool room will also be used during the day for a smaller nursery school program for younger children.
To accommodate the needs of these activities, we’ve made some room for toys and equipment and will move some items out of sight during the week. We’ve also agreed to some renovations to our old kitchen in the East Wing and have designated it a Peanut Free space. We ask for your cooperation in keeping any peanuts or peanut containing products out of that room. As well, Renee has asked to create a small fenced playground at the east end of the building so that she can provide some fresh air for her charges in a secure environment.
While the approval process and preparations have been challenging at times, we’ve been able to both support Renee and learn a bit more about hosting a nursery school in our building – knowledge we can tuck away in case we need it ourselves in the future.
- Chris Ritskes, Administrative Coordinator
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