When graduation rolls around in late May at Kiddies Korner Preschool in Port Coquitlam, the Class of 2025 will be a special cohort.
Not only will the youngsters moving on to kindergarten get their concrete stepping stone souvenirs, as well as class photos, yearbooks and other keepsakes, but the four- and five-year-olds will also be part of a celebration to mark the end of the play-based learning space.
Since 1969, Kiddies Korner has been located inside Trinity United Church, at the corner of Shaughnessy Street and Prairie Avenue, serving thousands of families in the Tri-Cities and beyond for the past 55 years.
And its reputation has been exceptional, with long wait lists to get in and awards for its programming, including a Tri-City News A-List prize in 2020, 2022 and 2024.
But last June, as it was meeting with church officials to renegotiate the lease, Kiddies Korner’s representatives got news they were not expecting: the space would be repurposed to help people who are unhoused.
Preschool board president Nicole Spindor told the Tri-City News today, March 10, that her board worked with the church to extend the eviction date from the end of 2024 to June 30, 2025, “otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to operate because no one would have registered for half a year.”
Immediately, the preschool board launched an outreach drive to find a new location, tapping into their legacy community (former parents), knocking on doors and emailing dozens of Tri-City churches and facilities to search for available space in September 2025.
Luckily, the Coquitlam Presbyterian Church at Blue Mountain Street and Como Lake Avenue in Coquitlam said they had room in their basement — an area that had once been used as a preschool.
Now, the preschool board is turning again to Tri-City residents and businesses to help pay for the relocation costs, as well as call for physical labour and tools for the move of the preschool and playground up the hill.
As of March 10, the non-profit has raised nearly $4,000 out of its $20,000 goal through a GoFundMe page.
Spindor, a mother of four who has seen two of her children at Kiddies Korner, has a son in the program and a one-year-old daughter lined up for two years from now, said the preschool kids in the three classes are aware of the upcoming transition.
All but two families are making the move with them, Spindor said, and the preschool has adjusted the opening time at the Coquitlam site from 9 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. to allow for the longer commute to the Burquitlam neighbourhood.
“I live two blocks away from here, so I know this is going to be a big change for everyone,” Spindor said.
Still, the fact that preschool parents want to stay with the program and fight traffic to get there “speaks of the connection the kids have with our primary teachers, Shelley and Carmen, and our support staff. In many cases for our kids, they are their first adults they are meeting outside of the home and they have built trusting relationships with them.”
“This is so much more than the physical space,” she said.
Spindor said her team has also reached out to their new Coquitlam neighbourhood and, in January, it held an open house at the Coquitlam Presbyterian Church and enrolled a few area families.
However, Spindor said while the new church space is bigger than their current location, they’ll be keeping the same number of children and staff members for now.
“There could be changes in the future, but our budget doesn’t allow for that currently.”
To donate funds or help with the preschool relocation, visit the GoFundMe fundraising page. The dates for work parties will be announced on the GoFundMe page and on the preschool website.
📣 Got an opinion on this story or any others in the Tri-Cities? Send us a letter or email your thoughts or story tips to [email protected].
📲 Want to stay updated on Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Anmore and Belcarra news? Sign up for our free daily newsletter.
💬 Words missing in an article? Your adblocker might be preventing hyperlinked text from appearing.
