Aurora Children’s Centre (formerly Our Lady of Grace Childcare Centre) was established January 18, 1988.

The corporation began with Community members surveying the Aurora community for services needed in the area. The survey results showed a dire need for quality childcare. Hence, Our Lady of Grace Childcare Centre, Inc. was created through the hard work and dedication of the very first Board of Directors back in 1987. We were located at 9 Maple Street in the old Our Lady of Grace School. Shelley Ambing was employed as the Supervisor on Jan 4th, 1988 and we opened our doors on January 18, 1988. We had two preschool classrooms with a total enrollment of 22 children. Shelley Henderson was hired as the Assistant Supervisor on Feb 18th, 1988 and Tracey Harrison joined our aspiring organization on March 21, 1988.

Our Lady of Grace continued to expand and in 1993, we went through the first ‘conversion’ with a ‘not for profit’ centre and added a school age component to the centre. We also opened Cardinal Carter Childcare Centre in August that same year.

Shelley Ambing accepted the position as Director in August of 1995 with the responsibility of overseeing the management and operation of both sites. Kelly Ansara joined our Administration Team in June of 1997 and became the Supervisor of Our Lady of Grace, Tracey Harrison continued her duties as Assistant Supervisor at Our Lady of Grace and Shelley Henderson assumed the role of Supervisor for Cardinal Carter Childcare Centre.

With the passing of the years came changes and the necessity to find a new location for Our Lady of Grace. We found our present site and the centre grew from 7,784 sq ft and a licensed capacity of 142 children to approximately 17,726 sq. ft. with a licensed capacity of 212 children.

We changed our name to Aurora Children’s Centre and opened our doors on September 5, 2006. The rest as they say is history!

We now have two quality childcare centres with a fabulous reputation and a healthy waitlist. This is primarily due to the collaborative efforts of our strong Administration Team, our skilled program staff and the much appreciated support of our volunteer Board of Directors.

Our Mission To Our Community

WE ARE COMMITTED TO SERVING THE LOCAL COMMUNITY WITH QUALITY CHILDCARE IN A HOME-AWAY-FROM-HOME ENVIRONMENT

A Philosophy For Excellent Childcare

The aim of Aurora Children’s Centre and Cardinal Carter Childcare Centre is to provide an educational and nurturing program to meet the needs of the children in our care and in accordance with the Ministry of Education and the Child Care Early Years Act.

A child is at all times entitled to opportunities to develop emotionally, creatively, socially, physically and intellectually in an environment that fosters co-operation, respect and a sense of responsibility and order. We aim to meet the unique needs of the child within the context of the whole group.

The centres will supplement and compliment parental/guardian care and values while seeking to provide a loving environment – home away from home – in a not for profit childcare setting.