Graduation at the Child Development Centre
It’s graduation day next week at the CUPS Child Development Centre.
There are 17 little ones graduating from Kindergarten after a year like no other. This group has demonstrated resilience with how they’ve adapted with their families to online learning, continuous changes to restrictions and everything that comes from going to school during a pandemic
As we celebrate these children and their successes, we’re also spending time looking back at the storied history of the Child Development Centre and how it has evolved to the dynamic, engaging program that young people and their families experience today at CUPS.
The early vision holds true
Carlene Donnelly, Executive Director at CUPS, is always focused on preparing people for a better future — that includes the youngest members of our community. CUPS programming is rooted in brain science and the partnership with the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University began as part of the children’s program more than 20 years ago. Research shows that early childhood experiences directly impact lifelong health outcomes. Support needed to start with the little ones. This invaluable partnership came to fruition thanks to the Norlien Foundation, now know as Palix. Without their involvement, it is unlikely that One World would exist.
The vision of the One World Child Care Centre, as it was originally known, was to ensure children were given every opportunity to be on par with their peers by the time they started Grade One.
The first cohort of young children (under 5) began in 2000. In the fall of 2002, there were 29 children between the ages of 3 and 4 in the classroom and then the following year, Kindergarten began.
The community rallied to support the development of the Centre from the very beginning. From the capital campaign that raised enough money to buy a building to house the centre ($1.7 million!), to establishing partnerships with Harvard University and others, it was a powerful movement that has continued to this day.
A key milestone
In 2017, the Centre hit a profound milestone. Then 17-year old Tanesha and 18-year old Jordan became the first two to not only graduate from the preschool program with CUPS, but they became the first generation from the Centre to graduate from high school and be heading onto post-secondary education.
When they graduated high school, Tanesha and Jordan also became the first CUPS students to access a scholarship that was promised to them at the end of Kindergarten. An anonymous donor funded the initial scholarship program that continues to this day.
“The people here really helped build a sense of community, Tanesha told Valerie Fortney at the Calgary Herald back in 2017. “They have guided me through the years, were always there when I needed help or advice.”
Learning through a pandemic
The Child Development Centre team remains a powerful group of individuals who work together to support our youngest community members and that was extremely evident during COVID-19.
Staying connected with our youngest community members when schools closed was imperative and with the help of generous sponsors, the Centre pivoted to online learning and found themselves directly in the homes of the children — something they had been trying to find a way to accomplish for years.
With the kids learning at home, their parents were actively engaged in the learning process. Education became more of a team effort, and parents were empowered by CUPS staff to work with their young children to learn and grow. Dalila is a parent with two children enrolled at CUPS and for her participating in the community provided a much-needed distraction to the world’s events and gave her an opportunity to better support her kids with their education.
"Our educators assembled and delivered care packages of supplies and then creatively leveraged technology to not only deliver live classroom sessions, but also engage with students and their families through craft and story time, group circle time and nature-based play and exploration," says Grant Kennedy, Senior Manager of Family and Child Development. "With minimal disruption, we were able to support each child with their Individualized Program Plans and help them achieve their academic and developmental goals."
The future
The One World name was retired in 2018 when CUPS, as an organization, did a larger rebrand, away from the Calgary Urban Project Society to the CUPS Calgary Society. Stakeholder research indicated that people weren’t clear One World was a CUPS program.
That clarity is becoming even more vital as CUPS and the Child Development Centre explore further opportunities to bring child development directly into the community.
Currently in conversations with Children’s Services and different government ministries, CUPS knows there is a community gap when it comes to children’s support. Continuing to be guided by research, science indicates that social services need to go into the communities to support children where they are. CUPS is eager to work and provide that outreach.
“Since the program began at CUPS, more than 300 hundred children have graduated and moved onto school to engage with their peers, make new friends and learn and grow in their community,” says Carlene Donnelly. “Their enthusiasm, energy and passion keeps us motivated every day and we are excited to see where they go in the future.
Congratulations to the CUPS Kindergarten Class of 2021!