We would like to thank everyone for their understanding and patience during this time. We are all dealing with many situations and circumstances that are unfortunately new to us and out of our control. The Academy is making informed decisions regarding the safety and well-being of the children, teachers and the Academy. After further inspection of the CDC guidelines and clarification from the Governor’s plan, we have made changes regarding how we plan to move forward with re-opening the school.
Our plan is to open the Academy on May 18 for the children of Essential Workers only. Because we choose to open to help our Essential working parents, it does not mean the Essential workers have to bring their children to the Academy. As a parent you need to make that judgement call. While we will follow all the guidelines set forth by the CDC, we cannot guarantee COVID-19 will not make an appearance. Please know we will do our absolute best to keep the children in our program safe, so it is important that parents follow the guidelines set.
If your child is involved in academic instruction from another school (i.e., SBISD), they will be given time to do work that is brought from home through the end of the school year.
During the time we are open for Essential workers only, if your child/children remain at home, we are asking all parents to continue to pay ½ tuition. This will guarantee you do not lose your child’s placement in the Academy. As a reminder if you are in a situation where you are needing help during this time, please email the Academy with that information for the Board to review.
The following are “new guidelines” we will be implementing to reopen the school. These are based on the CDC recommendations.
Non-essential workers – at this time, the Academy will not be opening to our “non – essential” parents’ children. Our goal is set for June 1st (but, this will depend on when the government updates this policy) So please be patient and know we are monitoring this situation daily.
Essential workers – You will be required to fill out Form 7265 (paperwork is attached) and submit it prior to bringing your child to the Academy. These guidelines are from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in its Guidance on the Essential Critical Infrastructure Workforce. For more information go to Texas Health and Human Services Commission txhhs@public.govdelivery.com
Hours of operation– New Hours- 7am-5pm (This is temporary – when all has settled, we will go back to our original hours.) The reason for reduced hours is to accommodate the regulation for the children to be with the same teachers throughout the day.
**Parents will not be allowed to enter the building. We will have a system set in place for parents to drive up and drop off/pick up their child/children.
Child screening -Children will be screened in the car before they can enter the building. Temperature scan, physical overlook (coughing, wheezing, shortness of breath etc.) If your child looks sick, they will not be allowed to stay. It is especially important you understand they must be well to attend.
In the classroom –
- Teachers will wear masks.
- Children are encouraged to wear a mask – but we understand this may be hard for children to do as it is hard to breath in a mask. A child wearing a mask will be a parent’s choice. If you do decide to have your child try to wear a mask, you will need to send a mask with your child. ** Under the age the age of two we will not allow children to wear a mask. This is a state mandate.
- The same teachers will remain with your child’s group all day.
- Your child will stay with the teachers in the same classroom and with the same group of children all day. We will not mix groups
- Your child will still go outside on the playground. We will disinfect between each class.
Cleaning Practices-
- New “multi” routine cleaning, sanitizing and disinfecting procedures have been set for teachers in the classroom. All our products are EPA- approved.
- In the evening, the Janitorial service will focus on an intense sanitizing, disinfecting and cleaning of the building.
- Toys that cannot be cleaned or cloth toys will be removed. For our infant and toddler classrooms we will have sanitation buckets. These will be used for toys that go into the mouth then into the bucket for cleaning. We do realize it will be extremely hard to keep every toy sanitized at every moment. Teachers will do their best.
Food requirements –
- During this time, you do not have the option to use Southern Cadence for meals.
- For the Frogs and the Ducks, your meal / bottle procedures will stay the same. You can continue to do what you have been doing.
- For All other classrooms –You will be required to provide a disposable sack lunch. The academy will not warm up food and all containers need to be disposable. We will throw everything away when your child is done with lunch. This will continue until you are notified otherwise.
- Afterschool/ summer camp – ordering lunch to be delivered is not an option.
- Snacks will continue to be provided by the Academy.
Though we have outlined a few guidelines that are important for parents to know moving forward, there are many more regulations we will be following that deal directly with the school, children and staff. If you are interested in finding out more detail you can see the full CDC report at www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/guidance-for-childcare.html
In addition to the CDC guidelines we are working directly with our Childcare licensing representative.
If you are an Essential worker and decide you need to start with us on May 18th. Please fill out the form 7265 (attached) return it to the Academy email and let us know you are planning to start. We hope this information was helpful. If you still have any questions about the above information, please contact us directly.
Once again, we appreciate the support from our parents and hope all are well. Our prayers are with you and your families.