Greene County Childcare Center

COVID-19 Impact

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March 23, 2020

Dear Parents of Greene County Child Care Center,

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On Monday March 23, Governor Ralph Northam extended his order that all public and private K-12 schools in Virginia close in response to the continued spread of COVID-19 for the remainder of the school year. This builds on the Governor’s previous school closure order and previously issued guidance asking childcare providers to prioritize services for children of essential personnel, while asking all families to keep their children home if they can.

Any existing provider can continue to offer childcare to families and must prioritize services to children of essential personnel. Providers that have closed may reopen to serve essential personnel if complying with new health and safety guidance. On March 18, the Commissioner of VDSS issued a letter with guidance for childcare providers operating in the Commonwealth, including group size limits of 10 and stringent public health guidelines to prevent the spread of COVID-19. There is an additional FAQ document available. 

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We will be opening the center back up on April 1st in a limited capacity as we are only allowed to have groups of 10 or less in each of our spaces at a time while still practicing social distancing.

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We know that this will be challenging and may take creative and strategic planning. Many of our classrooms are already small but we will still practice social distancing to the maximum extent while still allowing for the care of the children at the center.

Updated Hours:

Monday – Friday 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Effective April 1st - April 30th

• Drop-off and Pick-up will be done outside only. 

• Parents WILL NOT be allowed in the center.

• A staff member will come out to your car to handle drop-off and pick-up

• Temperatures will be taken prior to children being able to come into the center

We will be taking temperatures and checking symptoms for staff and children upon entry each day and ask if medications were used to lower the child’s temperature and if there are any household members with COVID-19. Throughout the day we will also conduct regular health checks of staff and children to look for symptoms of sickness or fever.

It is IMPERATIVE that you adhere to these requirements and not bring your child if you or your child are showing any symptoms of COVID-19:

•  Fever of 100.4 or higher

•  Cough

• Shortness of breath

Note that there is a 14-day waiting period for any child that has been exposed to or has tested positive for the coronavirus before they are able to return, along with a physician’s note clearing the child.

Parents will be required to sign up for childcare during the next 30 days and will be responsible for paying if they sign their child up during this period. We will be sending out a survey tonight that you will be required to fill out if you want your children to attend. This survey will help us designate priority to the essential workers outlined by the state.

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If you are not planning to send your children to the center during this time but would still like to support the center by either paying your tuition or donating to the center if would be greatly appreciated. Being a non-profit we operate with very tight margins and over this time of being closed and still paying our staff has been a hard hit for us, as we know is has been for many of you. If you are able to still make payments or want to make a donation please contact either Teresa Breeden (teresab@greenecountychildcare.org) or Ashley Artale (ashleya@greenecountychildcare.org).

Thank you so much for your understanding during this difficult time.

Ashley Artale

Greene County Child Care Center

Board President

Greene County Child Care Center Board

Full day summer programs for ages 5-12