Our Story

Our History

TOPP KIDS Child Care Center was founded as a before and after school program in 2010 as a project of passion for its founder Leslie Topp.

Having worked in Early Learning & Childcare for over 25 years, Leslie experienced first-hand the incredible effect of early academic exposure and the power of play, imagination and natural exploration in young children.

In the years that followed, she worked to modify her own child developmental approach, one that would not impose on the child’s natural desire to explore, play, and learn by experimenting with the environment. She then came up with her Play, Grow, Laugh & Learn model.

Our unique approach to care focuses on providing safe, engaging, fun programs for children that are convenient and accessible for all families while building connections within communities.

In 2012, Leslie had unfortunately been diagnosed with Lupus and her son Cody stepped in to continue building her dream.

Cody’s focus has always been the growth and development of the brand and his teams, innovating new ideas, and has been the driving force behind the group. He started by developing our systems and high standards ensuring our Accredited status was obtained and quality goals were exceeded. Soon after, he moved to expand the number of locations and types of programs provided as well as building our “Family” run feel.

His involvement within the community and the global Early Learning Care landscape has escalated TOPP KIDS into becoming a leading care provider and is now nationally recognized. Cody currently sits as the Chair of the School Age Care Directors Association of Alberta, Chair and host of the annual  Alberta School Age Care Conference, and Founder and Chair of the Lights on Afterschool Alberta movement. He also now sits on a number of additional child care advocacy groups across Alberta and nationwide.

Cody’s passion for growth and development has now led him to create a way to better share resources across the Early Learning Care industry – opening the ELCC & Community Development Education Centre and creating our first Non-Profit arm- the TOPP KIDS FOUNDATION.

TOPP KIDS has had great success in serving hundreds of families, surpassing our founder’s goals, and continuing to make an impact in Alberta’s communities.

Our Growth

In 2010, our first school program at Prince of Wales School opened to address a need for care in the community. TOPP KIDS’ first program saw incremental growth before opening a second program in a neighboring school, St. Philip Fine Arts School in 2012.

In 2013, TOPP KIDS launched our first Summer Camp and extended our reach across the city to open our fourth program in September in the community of Coventry Hills.

In 2014 we opened yet another program at Maple Ridge School and then Evergreen School in 2015, Copperfield School in 2016, Holy Child School in Silverado in 2017,  McKenzie Lake School in 2019, and Bayside School in Auburn Bay, and St. Mary’s School in 2022 (branching out to Okotoks), And Auburn Bay School in 2023.

Over a few short years, we have grown to 11 Before and After School Clubs and 6 Kindergarten programs, reaching over 1200 families across the Alberta annually.

We are proud to be recognized as an industry leader in Calgary as we continue to work on “Phase Three” of our expansion plans.

One of our latest projects is our ELCC and Community Development Education Centre. This program strives to create a system of Early Learning Care professional development and workshops for our own teams and other Early Learning Care professionals across Alberta. Our drive is stronger than ever as we work on our most important goal of creating a new standard for care of children ages 5 – 12 in Alberta.

Furthermore, we are currently transitioning the entire group to a NON-Profit model, and have named it the TOPP KIDS FOUNDATION.

We are working in partnership with the Government of Alberta, Mount Royal University, Bow Valley College and other community partners to raise the quality and accessibility of childcare in Alberta, as well as raising awareness for the importance of Out of School Care for children in our communities.

Over the next few years, our vision is to open more programs throughout Calgary and continue to extend our reach province-wide.

 

Read our 2020 State Report!