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Daycare goes high tech.

This What’s Up Wednesday features Hannah Qureshi owner and director of the new Learning Tree Academy childcare centre in the south end.

Hannah Qureshi knows what the children in her, Learning Tree Academy childcare centre are doing at all times throughout the day and she can keep their parents updated as well.

“There is a whole bunch of tech on site,” said Qureshi. “Every single classroom has a live video feed that is accessible here in my office or on site through iPads and things like that.”

The centre’s Kid Report app updates parents and allows them to view photos and short videos of their children during the day and only staff and registered family members can open the centre’s front door.

“The security system, instead of having a pin code or key fob, is a biometrics system,” she said. “We have a thumbprint scanner to unlock the door. All the families and staff are registered with that. Anyone who isn’t family or staff must be escorted on site.”

Security is a high priority for Qureshi and it is also important to parents who leave their children in her care.

“We wanted this centre to be top quality – to be the absolute best we could provide,” said Qureshi.

When she opened the centre three weeks ago she was taking steps toward fulfilling a life-long dream.

“I always wanted to be a teacher,” she said. “I always wanted to be in the education industry.”

Qureshi was born in Kitchener and studied early childhood education at Conestoga College.

“It was exactly what I was looking for in a career and from that I didn’t look back,” she said. “I fell in love with the ECE program and then jumped into the field as a teacher.”

She taught for a number of years before returning to school to get a degree in Child, Youth and Family studies at the University of Guelph.

“Both of my parents and my little sister went to U of G,” she said. “We’re a U of G family and my reasoning behind going to U of G was to jump into the management side of it. I love teaching but I love managing childcare centres so much more.”

She continued to learn on the job while she made plans to start her own childcare centre.

“I have been in the field of childcare for 13 years now,” she said. “I’ve had a few management positions over the years and I have opened up centres before this for other businesses and companies and now I’m here.”

She found a location near the intersection of Laird Road and the Hanlon Expressway in the city’s south end where many of her clients live and work.

“This project has been over a year in the making to get to this point,” said Qureshi.

She has plans to grow Learning Tree Academy but doesn’t want to rush.

“I am extremely ambitious, sometimes, overly ambitious,” she said with a grin. “I get that but we want to grow at a manageable rate. We have only opened one of each age group so, one infant class, one toddler class and one pre-school class so we can manageably grow. Once each program is filled then we will open the next class and then the next class after that and grow that way.”

She loves working with the children and believes the technology she has embraced will improve their ability to learn while keeping them safe and secure.

“I have a wonderful husband Ibrahim but no children yet,” she said. “My daycare kids are my babies. They are little sponges and they pick things up faster than we do. It’s exciting. This is my passion.”


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Troy Bridgeman

About the Author: Troy Bridgeman

Troy Bridgeman is a multi-media journalist that has lived and worked in the Guelph community his whole life. He has covered news and events in the city for more than two decades.
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