Long-serving preschool closing doors on Truro operations

A Truro pre-school that has operated for half a century is closing. And o cials say a new provincial Pre-primary Program is partly to blame.

“Declining enrollment and sta - ing challenges, due in part from the new pre-primary program opened by the Province, has caused the Board of Directors to make the di cult decision to close the nonprofit program,” the Truro Head Start School Society said, in a news release.

The release said the program opened in the fall of 1967 and has been culturally inclusive from the beginning.

“Head Start also embraced children with special needs and worked with our community partners to provide the best care and education possible,” the release said.

e Liberal Government initiated a Pre-primary Program in parts of the province last year for children who are age four by Dec. 31 of the year they register. e program went into e ect in September, prompting concern from some operators that the free government service could be detrimental to their operations.

e government plans to roll out the Pre-primary Program province-wide by September 2020.

And, on Wednesday, Education and Early Childhood Development Minister, Zach Churchill, announced the program is being expanded this year to another 130 classrooms in 87 more school communities across the province. To date, about 2,300 children have registered for the program in September.

Head Start o cials could not immediately be reached for further comment.