May 6, 2016

Residents of Medicine Hat, Alberta will soon have access to a licensed child care facility thanks to the efforts of Justine Mann, owner of Little Owl Learning Centre.

The centre will accommodate children ages 12 months to elementary school. They will be offering a full-day learning program for all ages and a part-time preschool schedule for toddlers, three to four. The centre will be able to facilitate up to 52 children daily and will operate year-round.

“We are going to be ascribing to the Reggio Emilia philosophy, which means that our curriculum will be based on an individualistic approach to child care. Enabling us to create a unique program for each child,” says Mann.

Mann has over six years of experience in the field and is a graduate from Medicine Hat College’s early learning and child care program.  She recently participated in the Entrepreneur Development Centre’s Summer Company.

	(Image) Justine Mann, owner of Little Owl Learning Centre

When asked what inspired her to pursue entrepreneurship, Mann explained that it has been a life-long passion of hers.

“I’ve always had a love for working with children and wanted to apply my passion in a way that enabled me to run my own company. In particular I wanted the flexibility to choose what type of program would be implemented in my centre,” says Mann.

With an anticipated opening date of September 2016, Mann feels the program has helped her ensure she has a strong foundation to start with.

“It taught me a lot. It made me look at my business plan very critically and think of questions that I might not have thought of prior to. I have the passion but I realized that the business-side is equally important,” says Mann. “In particular, I feel as though I learned a lot about the accounting side. I was taught about the difference between sole proprietorship and becoming a corporation, as well as the tax and legalities associated with both.”

Mann mentions that through the program she received the opportunity to attend seminars and had access to a variety of support services.

Little Owl Learning Centre will be accepting enrolment through the summer. If you are interested in registering or learning more contact Justine Mann at 403.594.2005 or littleowllearningcentre@gmail.com.                                                                                                                 

If you would like to learn more about the Entrepreneur Development Centre's Summer Company program contact Tracy Stroud at 403.504.3585 or tstroud@mhc.ab.ca.