HISTORY OF TOT SPOT
While pregnant with their first child, Alicia and Randall started discussing their plan for childcare and made a list of all the things that they wanted:
- Caregivers that they could trust to give the same love and attention that they would give their own child
- A place that offers developmental and educational programming, but also realized the importance of play, stimulating children’s curiosity, and fun
- A clean and bright facility that promoted fitness, nutrition, and environmental awareness
After an extensive search, they found a shortfall in exceptional quality childcare which met this criteria; this gave birth to the idea of simply doing themselves. So Alicia and Randall decided to marry their two areas of expertise (teaching and business respectively) to create Tot Spot Academy.
Tot Spot Academy started out of Randall and Alicia’s home in January 2013 as a dayhome with only one client. Within a year, it had quickly grown into a thriving business serving multiple families, hired 1 full time employee, and had a 2.5 year waiting list.
Even though Tot Spot would be considered a smashing success as a day home, it has one major problem: capacity. Due to extensive demand, Tot Spot Academy had reached a stage where growth was necessary. The next step was to transform the day home into a daycare capable of serving far more families.
After a lengthy search, the perfect location for Tot Spot Academy was found within St. Albert. Alicia and Randall took possession of a commercial space (9420 McKenney Ave) in June of 2016 and renovations took place over the summer transforming a former scrapbooking store into the daycare it is today. Construction and licensing were completed as the end of summer neared and Tot Spot Academy the daycare officially opened its doors September 12th, 2016.
Caregivers that they could trust to give the same love and attention that they would give their own child
A place that offers developmental and educational programming, but also realized the importance of play, stimulating children’s curiosity, and fun
A clean and bright facility that promoted fitness, nutrition, and environmental awareness
Within months, the Tot Spot Academy again faced the same capacity problems as the dayhome. Word travelled fast about the quality of care, the new spots quickly filled up, and once again Randall and Alicia had to search for a new space. A gym in the same strip mall had just closed its doors and offered the perfect place for expansion. The decision was made to move the preschool and out of school care kids into that space and we called it Tot Spot 2. Randall and Alicia learned a lot of lessons throughout building the first center (Tot Spot 1) and applied those learnings to the design of the new space. The doors finally opened to Tot Spot 2 on November 10th, 2017.
After adjusting to operating in the two spaces for a year, it became apparent that a second (and hopefully final!) expansion was required. The daycare was full, parents were happy, and applications kept pouring in. With the goal of expanding Tot Spot 2 to serve all the daycare needs and using the original space for out-of-school care, Randall and Alicia patiently waited until the space beside Tot Spot 2 opened up. In 2020, the opportunity finally arrived! A financial organization and clothing store moved out and a large adjacent area became available. Construction began in September 2020 to expand Tot Spot 2 into this space so all the children, from babies to preschool, could all be in the same center and benefit from the design improvements such as windows for each classroom.
Construction was finally completed December 2020 and the doors to the new space opened in January 2021. Our out of school care program was then be moved into the original space which also went under renovation to be best suited for our older kids.
Wait there’s more!
Since October 2023, Randall has been working closely with the Government of Alberta to receive a grant from their Childcare Space Creation Program. This program provides funding to well run organizations such as ours to create new childcare spaces. After a long process, we were finally awarded the grant, providing us the funding to open up a new location. Last week, after a year of negotiations and planning, we finalized a lease with the landlord for the new space. Details on the new location are below:
– The new location will be on the ground floor in Bellevue Villagejust south of the – Enjoy Center on Ray Gibbons. It is a 7 minute drive from our current location
– We will initially be applying to be licensed for 120 children
– We are aiming for a fall 2025 grand opening
– The outdoor play area will be HUGE! It will be over 8,000 square feet
– There will NOT be any OSC offered at the Bellevue location
– Our current location will be called Tot Spot Academy – McKenney and the new location will be referred to as Tot Spot Academy – Bellevue.
With new kids, families, staff, and processes needed to run two locations, there will surely be some growing pains as we figure things out. However, this is a very exciting time for Tot Spot and we are extremely excited!
Pricing will be the same as our current McKenney location and align with the new Affordability Grant funding. Information regarding upcoming fee changes will be released as the government provides us with more information.
We will be providing more information on Bellevue’s opening date, staffing, and any other details as they come.