There was a special sort of open house held Saturday by Pacekids in Calgary’s northeast. The free, family-friendly event was held to celebrate International Day of Education, and featured tours of the facility, meet-and-greets with the transdisciplinary therapy team, interactive activities for children, and information sessions about Early Childhood Services (ECS) enrollment for the 2026-2027 school year. Visitors explored specialized learning areas including classrooms, a gym, sensory rooms, and therapeutic spaces while connecting with teachers, Classroom Therapy Aides, and the therapy team of speech-language pathologists, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and behaviour specialists who work directly in classrooms. “At Pacekids, we support children with a variety of diverse needs,” said Pacekids clinical manager Torey Perez. “Those could be children with autism, children who are diagnosed with cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, a whole host of different learning needs or diagnoses. “Our goal is to promote their learning in a way that is best suited for them.” Perez said Pacekids’ reach is growing. “Overall Pacekids supports 600 families through a range of programs that are wraparound family support – but our capacity has expanded probably by about 20 per cent," she said. “Early intervention is key, especially with some of these diagnoses that I just talked about, so for speech and language development, for peer relationships, for social skills – even for gross motor and fine motor, these are key, key years--and so we really are building a foundation to help them excel as they continue to grow." For more information, go to pacekids.ca
