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The History of Belvoir Cooperative Nursery School
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| Derived from a report written by Mrs. Pat Carroll, and interviews with Marg Sanderson and Mary Branston. |
In 1971, Mrs. Evelyn Brand of London presented some courses for mothers at the Belvoir Centre in Delaware. Babysitting was provided. From this experience, Mary Branston and other ladies from the area with preschoolers, decided to open a nursery school, with a strong emphasis on parent education.
The school was incorporated as a non-share corporation by letters patent issued under the Corporations Act (Ontario) dated 08 January 1974. The first Directors of the corporation were James Casper, Thomas Griffin, Susan Seymour, David Patrick, Darcy and Bernice Gegear and Donna Cline.
The name “Belvoir Parents’ and Children’s Centre” was chosen because everyone involved placed a strong emphasis on parent education. Each Wednesday morning the mothers met at the school for a film, lecture and/or discussion. Both parents were encouraged to attend the monthly meetings. Parent education was an important part of these meetings.
The original site of the school was at the Belvoir Seminary. This location is now privately owned and named “Belvoir”, on Gideon Drive in Delaware. The school officially opened in January 1974. The school offered a 3 (three) morning per week class. From January to June 1974, the school was located in one of the small cottages on Belvoir property. In September of 1974, the school moved into the “big house”.
In September of 1975, the school was re-located in the basement of Sacred Heart Church. The parent education sessions ended but the child’s co-operative education program continued. In March of 1977, a flood destroyed nearly everything. In September of 1977, the school found its present home in the basement of the Delaware Memorial United Church, located at 2708 Gideon Drive.
In 1981, due to government regulations, the name of the school was changed to include “co-operative”. Since that time, all involved have worked hard to prove that we can live up to the spirit of that new name.
In September 2007, Belvoir offered a Before and After School program to accommodate an expressed need in the community. Although well received this program was found not financially feasible and closed in August 2009
In 2008, the nursery school teacher, Lori Kanters, was awarded the Prime Minister’s award of excellence in Early Childhood Education. This was a result of a nomination from a group of parent’s at Belvoir. In keeping with the co-operative spirit, Lori used her winnings to purchase a variety of equipment for the school as well as a new piece of playground equipment.
Over the years Belvoir has continued to serve the Del-Ko-Brydge community and surrounding areas. It is known as a place where children thrive and teachers and families support and care for one another.
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