Welcome gardens are coming this fall

SOUTH STORMONT – A new basketball court in Ingleside will be named after well known basketball coach and volunteer Bob Thompson July 13. The basketball court was recently constructed by South Stormont with some of […]

 

MORRISBURG – Happy Face Nursery School is patiently waiting to gain occupancy status to the two classrooms at Morrisburg Public School that will be home to their new Morrisburg location.

“Construction is a bit behind schedule,” said Cheryl Firlotte, executive director with Happy Face Nursery School and Child Care.

Although they were hoping to be ready to open September 3, Firlotte now hopes that they will be able to open by mid September.

“Morrisburg is a priority for Happy Face and for the Ministry,” said Firlotte.

“This centre, here in Morrisburg, is going to be a really nice centre,” she said. Happy Face will be operating six centres in SD&G once this Morrisburg centre is opened this fall. 

Community need is what brings Happy Face to Morrisburg. 

“There is really nothing like this available in the area,” said Firlotte. “This area has been identified as needing child care for some time.”

The Morrisburg location is a day care facility. This new location is a partnership between Happy Face, the Upper Canada District School Board and Cornwall Child Care Services.  

Happy Face at Morrisburg Public School will have room to accommodate 15 children in the toddler program and 16 children in the pre-school program. Toddlers are aged 18-30 months and pre-schoolers are 30 months to kindergarten age. 

“Response, so far, has been fantastic,” said Firlotte. When it was announced earlier this year that Happy Face was coming to Morrisburg, about 50 per cent of the available spaces filled up right away. They are holding a registration night August 29, 4-7 p.m. at Morrisburg Public School. 

Happy Face follows the Ontario Early Learning Framework of play-based learning with literacy and numeracy embedded in the every day curriculum. 

The Morrisburg location will be staffed by four qualified early childhood educators.

The facility will feature two classrooms, a kitchen, office and storage space. Each room has its own washroom and there are two outdoor fenced yards, one for each age group for outdoor play.

The site will be open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Meals and snacks are provided. The cost is $32 or $35 per day, depending on the age of the child, with subsidies available.

“This will definitely fill a real need in this community,” said Firlotte.

[…]

The uncertainty created by the unrest between doctors and government hit home Monday when South Dundas Mayor Steven Byvelds announced that a planned expansion of local health care facilities has ended before it even got started.

In a media release, Mayor Byvelds announced that the Township of South Dundas will not pursue the purchase of the former St Cecilia’s School in Iroquois. 

The Township had been in discussions with St. Mary’s/St. Cecilia’s Parish to purchase the school to provide a new location for the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic in Iroquois.

The Township had been approached by the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic to partner with them to provide modern, accessible space on a long-term lease basis, similar to the arrangement with the Clinic in Morrisburg.

The Township had completed its due diligence on the school property and had submitted a conditional offer for the consideration of the Parish. 

However, recently the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic advised that due to an uncertain future with respect to Provincial support of rural medicine they cannot expand further at present.

Acknowledging the position of the St. Lawrence Medical Clinic, Mayor Byvelds said, “I fully realize that with the Province imposing cutbacks that it does impact your business. Rest assured that the Township of South Dundas is willing to work with the SLMC to provide for the health care needs of our residents.”

South Dundas chief administrative officer Stephen McDonald told The Leader that the SLMC and Township are still moving ahead with the agreement they have in place for the Morrisburg clinic that will see it move into a renovated space in the former Morrisburg Collegiate building.

A detailed report on that project is expected at this week’s council meeting.

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