Wednesday night the guidance for childcare centers opening in the summer came out from Governor Scott. We are making plans to be able to care for Toddlers and Children’s House students. There are many components to take into consideration:
- Can our facilities and staff meet the requirements laid out?
- How many families might want to send their children into this group situation?
- What group size is most appropriate and protective of individuals and of our community? (guidelines have said 10 previously, but the new ones say up to 25 including teachers)
- What scenarios should we plan for and be able to meet?
- What should be the cost to the school or our community for this service?
We were able to discuss this a bit at our Parent Connections meeting on Thursday night. There are many variables at play in making these plans, most importantly to determine the needs and desires of our community.
We are grateful for the flexibility and understanding that families have demonstrated as we pivoted to provide remote learning when required to by the global health crisis. Our community has shown resilience in the face of adversity and a commitment to the learning environment that we provide, in person and remotely. While we are proud of the emotional and academic support that our teachers are able to provide at a distance, it does not replace the loving in-person care and prepared environment that we normally provide, especially for our youngest students. In acknowledgment of this, we hope to be able to offer care for as many as six weeks of the summer at no additional cost to those who were enrolled in the Toddler and Children’s House programs in the 2019-20 school year.
While we will not require any additional payment for this care, if a family is able to make a donation to help our school cover the cost of this care, we would welcome any donation that would help us to maintain our programs into the future. SummerFun typically costs $200/week for a half day and $300/week for a full day.
As we determine what options we might be able to offer, we will be doing a survey next week of current Toddler and Children’s House families to see how many students we might have for these sessions of SummerFun, and to see if there are any particular family considerations regarding scheduling, safety, etc.. If anyone has any particular input or questions, please feel free to reach out to me directly.
Stay well,