“We’re very concerned that there will be no alternative for a lot of parents and young children to go to different playgroups,” said Claudie Larouche, a parent who is helping organize efforts to try to save the Charlemagne playgroup.

More than 1,100 people have signed a petition urging the City of Ottawa and the Catholic school board to preserve the playgroup, if not in its current location, then in a suitable space nearby.

Pressure on remaining playgroups is expected to intensify. While another EarlyON centre remains open nearby on Centrum Boulevard, Patnaik said demand was already greater than capacity, with parents lining up outside before programs begin.

Larouche added the remaining sites may also be less accessible for families who rely on public transit.

For many families, the Charlemagne EarlyON played an especially vital role because of its supportive staff, daily drop-in schedule and baby class offerings.

Twylla Hodgins said Charlemagne centre staff gave her the resources to seek support from a speech-language specialist for her granddaughter.

With a long-running Orléans playgroup set to close at the end of November, many families are worried about a growing gap in free early-learning programs in Ottawa’s east end.

The Charlemagne EarlyON Child and Family Centre, which operates out of St. Peter Catholic High School, has announced it will shut its doors on Nov. 30. The free drop-in playgroup offers learning programs for children up to six years old.

For Dominique Patnaik, who has attended the play group for three years with her two daughters, the closure comes as an unexpected blow.

“Everybody felt it because it is such a big part of our weekly lives, and it’s provided us with so much … that we all feel like there’s going to be a hole in our lives when the centre closes,” Patnaik said.

The Ottawa Catholic School Board said it made the decision to close the EarlyON program after determining the space was needed for classrooms to support enrolment growth at the high school.

“Families have shared how meaningful this program has been for their children and for their sense of community, and we recognize the worry this has created for those who use the centre,” the school board wrote in a statement.

The Charlemagne centre is the second OCSB-operated EarlyON facility in Orléans to close in recent months. Another program at Divine Infant Elementary School shut down in September.

Until now, Orléans centres offered as many as 57 hours of weekly English or bilingual playgroup sessions. With the closures of the two sites, parents estimate this will drop to just 15 hours weekly.

“We’re very concerned that there will be no alternative for a lot of parents and young children to go to different playgroups,” said Claudie Larouche, a parent who is helping organize efforts to try to save the Charlemagne playgroup.

More than 1,100 people have signed a petition urging the City of Ottawa and the Catholic school board to preserve the playgroup, if not in its current location, then in a suitable space nearby.

Pressure on remaining playgroups is expected to intensify. While another EarlyON centre remains open nearby on Centrum Boulevard, Patnaik said demand was already greater than capacity, with parents lining up outside before programs begin.

Larouche added the remaining sites may also be less accessible for families who rely on public transit.

For many families, the Charlemagne EarlyON played an especially vital role because of its supportive staff, daily drop-in schedule and baby class offerings.

Twylla Hodgins said Charlemagne centre staff gave her the resources to seek support from a speech-language specialist for her granddaughter.

“I needed a supportive community and the Charlemagne EarlyON became that community for us. I relied on the staff and the other parents to be my network to support me and the children in my care to lay a safe, caring, empathic, and inclusive foundation,” Hodgins wrote in an email.

Orléans-West Innes Coun. Laura Dudas addressed the playgroup closure in a social-media post on Tuesday, stating she confirmed with the head of children’s services at the City of Ottawa that funding previously allocated to the closed centres would stay in the east end.

“Their short-term goal is to maintain access to these vital programs as quickly as possible by increasing capacity at a nearby EarlyON locations so families continue to have access to these high-quality programs and resources,” Dudas wrote.

She added the city was also exploring longer-term solutions to keep playgroup services in the east end and would consider proposals for new locations in the new year.

But, for parents such as Patnaik, the need to fill the gap created by Charlemagne’s closure is immediate.

“Even if another centre opens up in six months, that’s six months of parents having to pivot and trying to find something to do,” she said. “I think it’s going to have a detrimental impact. We need a solution right away.”

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