THE STORY

The Salt Spring Early Learning Centre began as SSI Daycare in 1978 by a group of dedicated islanders including local educators Barb Aust and Robin Andison. In 1983, the SSI Daycare Society was created and it ran SSI Daycare with a volunteer board of directors consisting of a committed group of volunteers and charitable donors.  SSI Daycare Society went on to obtaining status as a charity, which enables issuing tax receipts for charitable contributions.

Over its history, SSI Daycare has acquired a reputation for delivering high quality early learning. It has attracted capable and loyal staff over the years including Aileen Neish, whom was a manager for many years. Andrea Hollingsworth served for over 25 years, including a period as manager.  These two women were instrumental in the success of the early learning centre. SSI Daycare eventually became Salt Spring Early Learning Centre (SSELC), which reflects the evolution of the term “daycare” – which sometimes leads people to think of ‘child-minding’. The SSELC in fact offers modern, research-based early learning, delivered by trained and certified early learning educators, and deserved a name to match.

In the past, SSELC had the disadvantage of not having a permanent home. It operated from rented premises and moved several times over the course of its first three decades in operation.  In 2009, the SSI Daycare Society was extremely fortunate to receive a legacy donation from a family whose daughter had attended the early learning centre.  This once-in-a-lifetime donation combined with some savings and financing enabled the purchase of a permanent home that allowed the by now renamed charity – the Gulf Islands Early Learning Society – to continue providing top-quality early learning.  On January 2 2012, the Salt Spring Early Learning Centre began serving island families and their children in its permanent home at 115 Drake Road in a beautiful and largely restored twentieth century home, which was originally built in 1901. The facility is set on a large lot with a yard that backs onto a forest and has a beautiful play space that includes a hobbit house, gorgeous lilac tree and container gardens.

In 2016 the board of directors named the Salt Spring Early Learning Centre’s building the Laurel R. Bauchman Building, in honour of Laurel Bauchman who served on the board for many years (including one year as chair). To date, the Salt Spring Early Learning Centre and Gulf Islands Early Learning Society continues to develop a reputation for fantastic early learning care in a professional environment with trained early learning teachers. Under the management of Jaylene Kaye for the past several years, the centre weathered the storm of the global pandemic and continued to provide this essential service to Salt Spring Island families.

In 2023, the Gulf Island Early Learning Society supported the opening of a new early learning facility, Little Rainbows Early Learning Center, to better meet the needs of the community where it came to infant and toddler care, where it is currently the only center to offer all its capacity towards the under 3 age group.

To date, our two centres maintain the status as the only full time licensed group care child care facilities for local families, operating Monday to Friday with the hours of 8a.m. to 5p.m. Without these centres, the island’s family demographic and community would be greatly impacted.

We look forward to sharing new developments about the Salt Spring Early Learning Centre, Little Rainbows Early Learning Center and Gulf Islands Early Learning Society as a whole. Stay tuned to this website for further announcements!

(Updated Nov 2024)