Community Articles (listed by posting date)
General News · 3rd April 2026
Noba Anderson
After 3 weeks of closure, the Playschool at Manson’s Hall is open again, with a reduced schedule due to our small staff. If you read nothing more than this, please know that we are looking for playschool staff. Who might want to join our team? If you know someone, keep reading and reach out.
There have been internal personnel and procedural challenges within the playschool, as well as within the Southern Cortes Community Association, that runs the Hall, as a whole. We have lost some people; others are on leave. It is a challenging time for many, including parents who have come to rely on the playschool for solid childcare.
The silver lining of having something taken away is the stark realization of its value. From its inception in the 1970s until 2 years ago, the playschool has been part-time, often volunteer-parent-run, and never a well funded effort. Thanks to staff and leadership of the Hall, we are one of the lucky few communities to offer $10/day childcare; now seen by many as an essential service!
In a short period of time the needs of the playschool rapidly outpaced the capacity of the SCCA as a whole. Onboarding a new staff culture into a legacy organization requires increased HR training and development for staff, board and volunteers, while still tending to the day-to-day operations and financial needs of the organization. Part of what happened was a culture clash between professionally trained staff and the reality of a remote rural island community association. In times of accelerated change, some issues can be discounted or overlooked and quickly develop into a crisis.
In the last two weeks, the organization has been able to pivot, work with external experts, while bringing on new staff, including myself, to support the playschool and the SCCA find their way through this time of change. It looks like the playschool needs more autonomy and stronger governance. To that end, we are creating a playschool committee to have a hard look at the best mid and long-term path forward to grow the playschool into the Cortes Child Care Centre that it is reaching to be. If you know someone who may want to join this effort, please reach out.
In the short-term we need playschool facilitators! Who do you know that loves kids and has some experience and/or education in childcare or teaching? With this transition and growth we have the opportunity for a culture shift, and to me that is exciting. We will be supporting a growing team of caregivers who love wee ones and want to make this a generative space for kids, staff, their supporting organization and the playschool community as a whole. Please reach out to me ASAP!
Noba Anderson,
nobaandersongmail.com 250-202-6585
Interim Playschool Manager
There have been internal personnel and procedural challenges within the playschool, as well as within the Southern Cortes Community Association, that runs the Hall, as a whole. We have lost some people; others are on leave. It is a challenging time for many, including parents who have come to rely on the playschool for solid childcare.
The silver lining of having something taken away is the stark realization of its value. From its inception in the 1970s until 2 years ago, the playschool has been part-time, often volunteer-parent-run, and never a well funded effort. Thanks to staff and leadership of the Hall, we are one of the lucky few communities to offer $10/day childcare; now seen by many as an essential service!
In a short period of time the needs of the playschool rapidly outpaced the capacity of the SCCA as a whole. Onboarding a new staff culture into a legacy organization requires increased HR training and development for staff, board and volunteers, while still tending to the day-to-day operations and financial needs of the organization. Part of what happened was a culture clash between professionally trained staff and the reality of a remote rural island community association. In times of accelerated change, some issues can be discounted or overlooked and quickly develop into a crisis.
In the last two weeks, the organization has been able to pivot, work with external experts, while bringing on new staff, including myself, to support the playschool and the SCCA find their way through this time of change. It looks like the playschool needs more autonomy and stronger governance. To that end, we are creating a playschool committee to have a hard look at the best mid and long-term path forward to grow the playschool into the Cortes Child Care Centre that it is reaching to be. If you know someone who may want to join this effort, please reach out.
In the short-term we need playschool facilitators! Who do you know that loves kids and has some experience and/or education in childcare or teaching? With this transition and growth we have the opportunity for a culture shift, and to me that is exciting. We will be supporting a growing team of caregivers who love wee ones and want to make this a generative space for kids, staff, their supporting organization and the playschool community as a whole. Please reach out to me ASAP!
Noba Anderson,
nobaandersongmail.com 250-202-6585
Interim Playschool Manager