Our Story
Stratford Cygnets Cooperative Preschool began back in 1960 in the basement of St. Johns Church in Stratford; While Cygnets has moved and evolved over the years, those founding families recognized the importance of early education as well as the advantages of parents having an active part in running the preschool our children attend. Over 50 years later, the model still holds. Parents work with the common goal to run the best possible preschool for our children with the guidance and resources of our professional Registered Early Childhood Educators (RECE). The Preschool Supervisor works closely with the Preschool Administrator and the Board of Directors, and families serve on committees. Together, we make sure that each child has a successful experience, providing a friendly and supportive Cooperative experience.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
Stratford Cygnets Cooperative Preschool provides a stimulating and caring environment for all children including those with special needs. Our program supports the development of emotional, physical, intellectual, and social skills. These skills will help the children prepare to enter kindergarten. The children will develop these skills through play-based learning experiences.
Stratford Cygnets Cooperative Preschool strives to provide a child care program that uses The 4 Foundations and Goals of How Does Learning Happen: Belonging Well-Being Engagement And Expression, these goals are the foundation for optimal learning and healthy development
FACILITIES
Our nursery school is located in the beautiful, diverse, and family-friendly city of Stratford, Ontario. We share a building with an elementary school in the centrally located Anne Hathaway ward.
We offer two classrooms, one for our toddlers and one for our preschoolers. We are also fortunate enough to share a room with St. Ambrose where we house our Before and After School program. With access to an indoor gymnasium and two beautiful outdoor spaces. We use the gymnasium and the main outdoor space for our Summer Camp and March Break programs!
CWELCC
On Tuesday, November 8th, 2022, Stratford Cygnets was officially approved to join the Canada-Wide Early Learning and Child Care (CWELCC) system. This system was designed to support Ontario’s children, families, employers, and the child care sector to make licensed child care programs are more affordable, accessible, inclusive, and of higher quality.
Tuition and base fees were reduced by 25%, effective April 1st, 2022. As of January 1, 2023 we were able to reduce our fees more, in order for our fees to be a minimum of $12/day. We are working towards an average of $10 a day for childcare.
The CWELCC reduction is applicable for children up to the age of 6 years.
