Full days outside. Familiar faces every morning.
Maple & Sparrow is a play-based daycare and preschool built around low ratios, real outdoor time in every season, and caregivers who stay with your child from room to room.
Continuity, not a rotating cast of caregivers.
Most daycare searches turn up the same three promises. Here's what's actually different at Maple & Sparrow: the educator who greets your child in September is very often the same one who says goodbye at pickup in June. Our staff retention has averaged over four years since we opened, so your child builds real, lasting relationships instead of adjusting to someone new every few months.
That continuity is only possible because our ratios sit well below what each room is permitted to hold — fewer children per adult means more attention, faster response, and caregivers who genuinely know each child's rhythms.
One center, four rooms, one philosophy.
Every room follows the same play-based approach, scaled to age — from bottle schedules to pre-K writing practice.
Infant Room
Individual feeding and nap schedules, daily written reports, and a 1:3 ratio for the most hands-on stage.
Toddler Room
Sensory play, early language, and a lot of walking, climbing, and practicing new independence — safely.
Preschool
Structured circle time, art, early literacy, and outdoor exploration built into every single day.
Pre-K
School-readiness routines — letters, numbers, following multi-step instructions — without worksheets replacing play.
A typical day in the Preschool room.
Arrival & free play
Quiet activities while children settle in at their own pace.
Breakfast & circle time
Shared meal, then songs, calendar, and the day's theme.
Outdoor play
Every day, every season — snow pants and sunscreen both live in every child's cubby.
Lunch & rest
Hot lunch prepared on-site, followed by quiet rest or nap.
Learning centers
Small-group rotations: art, blocks, sensory bins, books.
Snack & second outdoor block
Fresh air again before pickup begins.
Pickup window
Sign-out at the front desk; a quick handoff note on how the day went.
Small enough that we know your child's name before you tell us twice.
Started by a teacher who kept hearing the same worry.
Priya Novak spent nine years teaching in Calgary elementary classrooms before opening Maple & Sparrow in 2016. She kept meeting parents of her students who described the same scramble years earlier — daycare waitlists, high staff turnover, and centers that kept kids indoors most of the day.
She built Maple & Sparrow around the opposite of that experience: a single location small enough to run well, ratios kept below what's required, and a commitment to outdoor time that doesn't get cancelled because of weather. Priya is on-site most weekdays and still teaches a Friday circle-time session herself.
What parents notice first.
“We toured four centers before finding Maple & Sparrow. It's the only one where the same teacher who greeted us at drop-off was still there a year later.”
“My son goes outside rain or shine, and honestly he sleeps better because of it. The daily handoff notes tell me exactly how his day went.”
“The ratio in the infant room made the difference for us. Someone always had eyes on our daughter, and I never felt like a number.”
What we'd want to know as parents.
Licensed & inspected
State-licensed and regularly inspected, with staff certified in pediatric first aid and CPR.
Every staff member screened
Criminal record checks and vulnerable-sector clearance before anyone works with children here.
Secure entry
Keypad entry, sign-in/sign-out at every pickup, and a pre-approved pickup list for each child.
Before you call, a few quick answers.
Is there a waitlist right now?+
What if my child is sick?+
Do you provide meals?+
Bridgeland, easy in and out.
We're two blocks off McDougall Road with dedicated parking for drop-off and pickup, so you're not circling the block with a toddler under one arm.
812 Radnor Avenue NE, Calgary, AB T2E 5G7
Monday–Friday, 7:00 AM–6:00 PM
(403) 555-0148 · hello@mapleandsparrow.ca
Come see the classrooms before you decide anything.
No-obligation tours run weekday mornings and take about 30 minutes. Meet the teachers, see the outdoor yard, and ask every question on your list.