Some parents in Airdrie are facing uncertainty after learning that the Little Steps Before and After School Care program at St. Veronica School will no longer offer its services at the school this fall. The decision was made due to rising student enrollment, which means that the previously utilized space by the program will be repurposed for additional classrooms.
Little Steps, according to its website, operates multiple locations across the Calgary and Airdrie areas, including daycare, out-of-school care, and preschool. St. Veronica's was one of two Airdrie Catholic schools at which Little Steps operated, the other being at Good Shepherd School.
In an email to DiscoverAirdrie, the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) noted that "The decision was made by the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD), in consultation with school leadership at St. Veronica, following an increase in student registrations at St. Veronica School and a review of available instructional spaces. We must continuously evaluate the use of our school spaces and available resources to ensure we can continue to meet our primary mandate - to provide quality K–12 Catholic education in safe and supportive learning environments."
The statement also confirmed that beginning in the 2025-2026 school year, the auxiliary gym space currently used by Little Steps will be repurposed to support classroom instruction, accommodating the increased student enrollment at St. Veronica School.
When asked if alternative accommodations (e.g. portables or shared-use models) were considered to preserve the program, CCSD did confirm that "The district explored various options. However, due to the school’s current capacity challenges and the need to prioritize instructional space, there were no viable solutions within St. Veronica. CCSD has supported Little Steps in exploring alternative spaces."
DiscoverAirdrie also reached out to Little Steps for comment. In a written statement, Mireille Berge, the Owner of Little Steps, wrote, "At this time nothing is set in stone but I can tell you that we are working closely with the CCSD and the school to come up with options for the parents to ease this transition and come up with a plan that works for all parties involved. We have been in communication with our families at St. Veronica and will continue to keep them informed as things develop."
CCSD noted that "Little Steps and CCSD provided families with information, as per our standard communication protocol. CCSD sent letters on June 25 and July 2."
In a copy of the initial June 25 letter, signed by Deneen Rycroft, the Area Director of CCSD, wrote that, "Each year, we must evaluate the use of our school spaces and available resources to ensure we can continue to meet our primary mandate—to provide quality K-12 Catholic education in safe and supportive learning environments...While we recognize the important role that before and after school care plays in the lives of many families, we are not mandated nor funded to provide this programming. When resources and space allow, we are pleased to offer these supports at our schools; however, they are not guaranteed year to year."
The letter also underlined that the district was "still trying to work with Little Steps to see if there are any viable solutions for an alternative space for them to use for a before-and-after-school program."
The letter also provided a list of local childcare providers in the area.
"This is not an exhaustive list, just some suggestions to support our families during this time," the letter stated.
In a subsequent July 2 letter, CCSD noted, "We have been actively collaborating with Little Steps in an effort to identify a solution that may continue to serve our families’ before- and after-school childcare needs." As you may have seen in a message sent from Little Steps to families by email on Friday, a potential arrangement is currently being explored. Specifically, Little Steps is working on a plan to transport students to and from St. Veronica School and Good Shepherd School, where space is currently available to accommodate a before and after school care program."
The letter stated that the plan is still awaiting final approval from the City of Airdrie.
"We remain hopeful that it will proceed. Please note that all further updates and confirmations regarding this potential arrangement will come directly from Little Steps. If this solution is approved, we trust that it will help support many of our families during this transition."
While CCSD reiterated in its responses to DiscoverAirdrie that it had informed families on June 25 and subsequently on July 2 of the closure, Airdrie parents who reached out to DiscoverAirdrie stated that they initially received the news via email from Little Steps on June 19.
Airdrie parents, Kevin and Angela Whelan, say the news has left them not only frustrated but grasping at options that are not ideal for the family.
"There [was] no communication from the school... That was the Friday just before last week, which pretty much put us in a hole, and then right at the end of the school year. [It] was incredibly frustrating," Kevin Whelan said in an interview with DiscoverAirdrie.
"The impact has been really difficult for our family because we actually made the decision to purchase a house specifically within the school's boundaries so [our child] could attend St Veronica's, and we could use Little Steps for their before and aftercare program. It was a big part of the planning; planning for us as a working family, and that was suddenly taken away, and we're facing serious challenges trying to build a work schedule and childcare and really, with no clear solution in place."
Angel noted that because both she and her husband work full-time, relying on family for childcare is not a feasible option, especially for the entire school year.
"With having Little Steps there, at least we knew the care was there. It was consistent and reliable. Our son loved it, but now that that's not there - it's frustrating because you want to go into summer and make good memories and have vacations and do all the fun stuff, but we've this heavy weight on us now trying to figure out what the school year is going to look like."
The Whelans have already begun considering options, such as reducing work hours and approaching their employer, but none of the solutions they've explored are ideal.
"Every solution that we've discussed isn't ideal, and there's the economic factor where we don't want this [and have it] be a financial burden, depending on what the outcome is," Angel added. "Options are so limited in terms of child care. We've had some pretty tough decisions as to what we could potentially do, and none of which are really great solutions thus far."
Angela also noted the fact that the reason for the program's closing is due to capacity and space issues, which compounds the frustration.
"The space that Little Steeps was utilizing, we have been told, is going to be turned into, I believe, upwards of four classrooms, which is a lot," she said. "That decision kind of pushed Little Steps out of the equation. When you see that, that being the main issue of the program ends, and now we're left to figure out a solution, essentially, with no support."
Kevin also questioned the future planning, noting that the school is relatively new and already has portables.
"If we're building a school, and in six years, it's already had to have two modular units added to it, and now they're out of space again, and they're looking for more modular units. How far in advance are we planning for this type of stuff?"
CCSD noted in its written response that portables have been requested for St. Veronica School for the 2025-2026 school year.
"CCSD is currently assessing space and enrolment projections across all our 118 schools. Any decisions regarding modular classrooms or portable additions will be made in collaboration with CCSD and Alberta Education, based on need and available funding," the district wrote.
In a subsequent email on June 28, the Whelans reiterated their disappointment with the announcement's timing while also underlining that they remain cautiously optimistic.
"While not yet confirmed, it seems that a potential solution may be on the horizon... That said, nothing is finalized, and we are still awaiting clear decisions and communication from the district and other involved parties."
However, the Whelan family are not the only family that is now considering less-than-ideal options. For Steven Satter and his family, there has been da iscussion on whether his spouse may quit her job.
"[Her] quitting her job just for the ease of our life situation; not to say that her losing pay is helpful, but then we wouldn't be paying for daycare at least. So, it kind of evens out," he said in an interview with DiscoverAirdrie in June. "We had plans in September, we got all set up for events and daycare throughout the summer. We were only able to get daycare in August, not in July, so we had to come up with different ideas for July. Now we're kind of scrambling trying to figure out what we can do."
Satter also confirmed that the initial news came via email on June 19. Satter, who works overseas, said that the program allowed the family convenience.
"We could head over to the school, drop off the kids between seven and eight. They would stay there."
When asked what advice he would impart to both the school board and the province, he said funding is crucial.
In a separate, written response, he stated that, "This isn’t just a St. Veronica issue, it’s a reflection of a much larger childcare access crisis in Airdrie, where demand is far outpacing supply, and families are being forced into impossible situations with little support."
"There needs to be more funding for temporary spaces or even permanent ones. What we learned this morning [June 23] is that they're looking for six portables. We're being told that it will be within the next year. That's kind of the window that they may get," he said. "It just seems growing pains are going to be a difficulty, and then with not enough daycare available around, it's just going to make things harder until our kids hit that sweet spot - that 12 to 13 range -where we may allow them to walk to school or wherever."
For Airdrie parents, Adam La Fave and his wife, Veronica Pimentel, the announcement has also meant heartbreak as their daughter loved the program.
"She loved the program. She loved to be there. She was just waking up earlier to go for that. For us, we get out of work after school hours; so it was a peace of mind that our kid will be just right there at the school having fun and someone taking care of her," Pimentel said.
However, like other parents, both La Fave and Pimental said that they would have preferred to have been notified earlier.
"Well, we talked to the principals, of course, and they said that trend lines [for registration] were starting to show right around the time of spring break; so mid to early April," he said. "We would have liked to know then."
Both parents have stated that other childcare options are scarce.
"There are no real options. We're fortunate that my wife has some work-from-home flexibility, so we can leverage it to make up for our slack," he added. " [But] often, she has to work after dinner, things like that. However, many families may not speak up for various reasons."
The family dynamic has indeed shifted for both parents, and Pimental is now having to work later into the evening.
"... Changing my hours, and working a lot more - not having that much time with them, because I'll be picking her [my daughter] up, starting to prepare dinner; after dinner, starting to work again, to complete my hours," she said.
La Fave, though, was adamant that he understands that the decision to close down the program is not something that can be blamed on the school itself.
"We've had discussions with the principals about these demographics, and it's not on them, this decision. I think we need to make it very clear that they've done everything they can. There's a lot of frustration at every level in government, but it should be very concerning because this is a problem that's not going to solve itself," he said.
When asked if CCSD is planning additional portables for St. Veronica in the 2025–26 school year, the district wrote in its response that "Portables have been requested for St. Veronica School for the 2025-2026 school year. CCSD is currently assessing space and enrolment projections across all our 118 schools. Any decisions regarding modular classrooms or portable additions will be made in collaboration with CCSD and Alberta Education, based on need and available funding."
According to CCSD, it serves more than 64,000 students in 118 schools in Calgary, Airdrie, Cochrane, Chestermere and Rocky View County.
"Only some of our 118 schools can offer the additional benefit of a before and after school care program, depending on available space and resources," the district added.
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