To our BVFYMCA Preschool Families,
We are excited to announce that our Newark Preschool site will be reopening on June 1 and our Licking Heights Preschool site at Summit Station United Methodist Church will be opening on June 8. We have been working diligently in accordance with the guidelines given to us by the Governor and are excited to safely welcome our families back to the YMCA.
Preschool will look different this year! We know the COVID-19 crisis has made many children anxious, and living with stay-at-home restrictions has been hard. We’re so excited to welcome them back to the Y and provide a safe, fun environment to explore, get active and improve their social and emotional health!
As we prepare to reopen, please be assured that your child’s safety is our number one priority. We’re following guidelines from health experts and local officials to ensure that our facilities meet the highest standards for hygiene and safety, and we have modified our policies and programs to facilitate safe physical/social distancing practices.
Here is what you can expect as you return to Preschool this summer:
- Our hours of operation will be reduced for the transition back to programming. The YMCA Preschool will operate from 7:30 am to 5:00pm. This is not a permanent change. We will continuously assess the needs of the parents and work to best serve our families while continuing to meet the best practices for safety for all involved.
- Parents will drop off and pick up children from the Preschool lobby. A staff member will walk children to and from their classrooms. Parents are not permitted into the preschool classrooms to help eliminate potential contamination of the classroom space.
- Parents will be expected to maintain social distancing while waiting for drop off or pick up.
- No parent or family functions, no extracurricular activities, including gymnastic classes or swim lessons, at this time.
- Children will complete a daily symptom assessment at drop off including a temperature check
- If a child has a temperature of 100˚F or higher, the child will not be admitted and an illness report will be created to document the temperature.
- A child with a temperature of 100˚F or higher must be fever-free for 3 days without fever-reducing medication before they can return.
- Children will wash hands upon entering the classroom.
- Classroom size and attendance will be reduced. Children will be kept in smaller groups throughout the day. Current ratios are as follows:
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- Infants: 1:4 or 2:6
- Toddlers: 1:6
- Preschool: 1:9
- The maximum number of children per preschool classroom will be limited to 9. Total group size will be 10, including the teacher.
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- Children will practice social distancing as much as possible and mixing of groups will be minimal.
- Classes will combine as necessary at the start and end of each day.
- Meals and snacks will continue to be served in the classrooms. We will eliminate family style dining in our preschool classrooms.
- Communicable Disease postings will continue to be posted in the lobby and through the “Hi Mama” app.
Our teachers are excited welcome your children back to preschool! They have been diligently working to prepare classrooms and lesson plans for their return. If you should have any questions or concerns as we continue to prepare for the June 1 re-opening date, please feel free to contact the Kristin Ream at Kristin.ream@bvfymca.org (Newark), Barbara Michael at barbara.michael@bvfymca.org (Licking Heights) or the Director of Child Development, Heather Hawkins at heather.hawkins@bvfymca.org.
Sincerely,
Heather Hawkins
Director of Child Development