After more than 50 years, Mount Seymour Preschool is closing

Some preschoolers and their parents are getting ready to bid a fond farewell to their beautiful school, one that’s served the community for more than 50 years.

Come this Friday, school’s out for good at Mount Seymour Preschool.

“It has been a positive thing in the community, it’s sad that we’re leaving it,” reflects Martin Bush, a board director whose daughter also attended the preschool this year. “There’s 40 to 50 kids that go through there every year, for 50 years.”

The preschool, located on Parkgate Avenue, was originally created by neighbouring Mount Seymour United Church as an outreach ministry to the community in 1969, in order to provide kindergarten education to local kids east of the Seymour River, according to the non-fiction book “Echoes Across Seymour: A History Of North Vancouver’s Eastern Communities.”

In 1971, when kindergarten was implemented into the local school system, the preschool started enrolling three- and four-year-olds in its early childhood education program.

The preschool was first located in a portable on the grounds of the church’s old space on Berkley Road, before moving along with the church to its existing location in the late ’80s.

Bush describes the preschool as a “fixture” in the community, and says what’s made it particularly special has been its awesome playground, wide open outdoor space and access to the wonderful wooded area behind Parkgate Village.

“Our philosophy is: every morning preschool starts in the outdoor space, rain or shine,” he says. “If we were in a business park, hanging out in parking lot might not be as good.”

For a while over the last year however, it looked very likely that the preschool would in fact move to a less natural, desirable location – like a business park or busy thoroughfare – until, suddenly, it was decided the preschool would just close up shop completely.

In February of this year, the church and preschool were presented with some tough choices.

In a notice that went out to its congregation earlier this year, the church council said it had made the difficult decision to end its rental agreement with the preschool, effective June 30, 2022.

The church ended the rental agreement in order to have the space to expand its primary outreach program and volunteer-run thrift shop, the proceeds of which support numerous front-line agencies.

“This provides for the preschool to finish this current school year and have time to find alternate accommodation,” the notice read. “As you know, Mount Seymour United Church has had a wonderful relationship with the preschool for over 50 years. Much has been shared and learned from each other.”

In March, the preschool’s board of directors sent out a notice to members to hold a virtual meeting to decide the fate of the school, including options to find a new location by June 2022, shut down the school entirely by the end of their lease in June 2002, or shut down completely at the end of this current school year.

Eventually, following something of a domino effect, the preschool made the decision to go with the latter choice.

“We began to have some families withdrawing their registrations for September this year,” said Martin, noting that many families reasonably wanted the assurance sooner rather than later of where their child was going to be come September and beyond. “None of our staff that we currently have would be here in September. … Suddenly, it became insurmountable.”

Bush says the preschool’s recent challenges, and eventual decision to give up looking for a new site, speak to the difficulties of finding appropriate childcare spaces on the North Shore and the changing needs of the community. “We wanted to stay in the Seymour area, ideally,” he says. “We’re halting the search for a new space simply because … we’ve lost the staff, we’ve lost the families. We can’t fault parents for wanting to make sure they have a place for their child in September, given the uncertainty.”

Heather Spriggs, whose six-year-old son used to attend the preschool and whose daughter is currently enrolled, says it’s sad the space is closing, adding that with the pandemic posing its own challenges this year, it had been something of a perfect storm.

Spriggs says her daughter will likely attend Windridge Park Preschool at Ron Andrews next year instead. 

“It is disappointing because I love it being a local thing,” says Spriggs. “I can walk there. My daughter scooters there and scooters home, but now I’ll have to drive her both for drop off and pick up.”

Although Spriggs laments the disruption the preschool’s closing could cause her daughter and her burgeoning friendships, she’s also ever the optimist that going to a new school will provide a new, positive opportunity. “Luckily, my daughter is very outgoing so I view this as an opportunity for her to practise her friend-making skills,” she says. “With COVID, it’s all about learning to adapt.”