Rankin Inlet (Feb 12/03) - It was a long wait, but the preschool program is finally up and running in Rankin Inlet.

Sponsored by the Friendship Centre, the preschool opened its doors at the Drop-in Centre for the first time on Feb. 3.

Patricia Ittinuar received a little moral support on her first day of preschool from her sister, Ethel, and mom, Joy Ford. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

Co-ordinator Carla Brown-Power says there are 16 kids in both the morning and afternoon sessions.

Power wants to offer the program to every four-year-old in Rankin who was born in 1998 and will be attending kindergarten this August.

To accommodate that, the preschool will hold two sessions.

Session 1 will run from Feb. 3 to March 28 and Session 2 from April 7 until May 30.

Each session will have a morning (9:15-11:45 a.m.) and an afternoon (1-3:45 p.m.) group.

"Essentially, we have 64 available spaces and we've been told there's somewhere between 50 to 60 preschoolers in the community," says Power.

"We got our final licensing approval just one week before we opened. During that week we registered all these children, so we're certainly seeing some positive results so far."

The preschool has two instructors, Brenda Angoshadluk and Barb Nakoolak.

The program was delayed due to maintenance requirements at the Drop-in Centre, which was selected for the site of the preschool.

The sessions were originally slated to get underway in March of 2002.

"The delay did include 10 weeks over the summer that we would have been closed for anyway.

"We open and close with the school year."

Power says the preschool is designed to support children and their families during the early childhood years.

She says the program will help children to thrive mentally, emotionally, socially, intellectually and physically.

"The children have the opportunity to play with a large number of educational toys and be learning without even realizing it.

"We offer some structure to the classes, of course, but it's not a case of coming in at 9 a.m. and sitting in your chair all morning."

The preschool is offered in English and Inuktitut, with both instructors being bilingual.

Power says the staff will enjoy helping kids prepare for kindergarten.

"The kids also have the chance to get together and meet their future school partners, as well as developing their social skills."