Champions of the StrongStart BC early education program are celebrating its return to Palsson school in Lake Cowichan.
The free program, which is offered at a half dozen other elementary schools within the Cowichan Valley School District, was cancelled in December 2023 but parents and stakeholders were desperate to have it returned to the region.
Strong Start is geared toward families and caregivers with children ages 0-5 and enables both kids and their adults to get the feel of a school-based setting with a qualified early educator ahead of organized schooling.
Play-based learning, music, stories, art, and free play takes place with other children and their caregivers and helps to prepare children for Kindergarten.
The program had been run out of Palsson but moved to Lake Cowichan School prior to its cancellation, which resulted in a decline of use.
It had also been run as a surplus program within the school district's budget, and eventually the extra funds ran out.
Since its closure, there's been a movement to have the program reinstated with a petition and letter-writing campaign. In mid-September it was announced those efforts were successful.
"It was a group effort," said Amanda Evans, a parent who used the program. She added that while the district did shut it down, they were also more than willing to work to get it back up and running after hearing from the community.
"The conversations we were having with local parents and community members and letters and petition signatures truly shed light on how impactful StrongStart was to families here and just how detrimental it was to have this service taken away," Evans said.
"The school district listened to our concerns and passion and seemed to truly hear us. They were great to work with throughout the process of engaging the community — they attended meetings after work hours and responded to our emails and calls promptly. It felt like we were on the same side throughout."
Cowichan School District Assistant Superintendent Jeff Rowan said the district is excited to be able to fund the program again.
"The StrongStart program at Palsson Elementary in Lake Cowichan is an important program to both the school district and community," Rowan said. "We have been able to reallocate some of our StrongStart outreach dollars to reopen the program this year."
Rowan said the district has contracted with Lake Cowichan Community Services and they are working hard to find staff.
Lake Cowichan Community Services executive director Jocelyn Lundberg said her group is working to find a qualified early childhood educator to facilitate the program.
"We will open as soon as we are able," she said.
Evans said the community is grateful for it and takes pride in their efforts to return StrongStart to the area.
"We understand that resources for public schools are limited and are grateful that funding was provided to re-open Lake Cowichan Strong Start," Evans said.
"One big thing I learned throughout this process is just how passionate families and the community is in Lake Cowichan — especially around providing for and taking care of our children. We hope that funding continues to be allocated to the school system in our small but growing town."
