Child, Youth & Community School Programs

consist of: After School Programs, Toddler Drop-In and Teen Nights – as well as special programming opportunities as they arise through the year. These programs are developed and offered in response to expressed community needs for our community’s children &youth ages 1month – 18years. Program particulars vary year to year and are developed by the Child, Youth and Community School Programs coordinator in conjunction with community members and the Hornby Island Community School. Funding for the various programs offered, comes from various grants, user fees, fundraising and donations.

The primary mandate of HIES is to provide programs that are accessible to all who wish to participate, therefor, subsidies are available to all who request them.

Toddler Drop-In Program is for children up to 30 months and their parents. September through May on Thursdays 9 – 12 noon in the Raven Room @ the Hornby Island Community School. This program is crucial for parents to create a supportive network and for the children to socialize and interact outside of their home and in the community.

After School Programs offer a variety of programming after school for children from kindergarten to Grade 7 and include local home-schooled children. These programs are inspired, created, and facilitated primarily thanks to our community members of mentoring and sharing their skills. They can be sports related or art-based programming depending on the ideas and mentors/instructors available.  One paid staff person (sometimes two) oversees these programs and supports the instructor/mentor.

~ Friday Club Day our school week is only a 4-day week, so these Friday Club Days are vital for our community! Like the After-School program, our Friday Club program is offered for all our community children from kindergarten to Grade 7.  The Friday Club Day program runs a Fall Session & a Spring Session at our Room to Grow building: it is a drop-in style program with free play stations set up so the children and youth can interact in a less structured environment. Most stations are art-based, including an amazing “maker-space”, with games and Lego available too! There are always 2-3 adults who supervise this drop-in program.

Teen Night  is a social program for local teens to get together in a fun, safe environment on Friday evenings through the school year. Teen night events are facilitated by our Teen Night Facilitator and consist of on-island teen nights at our Hornby Island Community School, as well as off-island adventures like the movies, the swimming pool at the Courtenay Recreation Centre and more. The Teen Night Facilitator oversee activities, connects with the teens, and creates a supportive environment for them to express themselves, socialize and have fun!  All local teens in grades 8-12 are welcome to attend. There is always one paid staff person & a volunteer on-site for this program.