An update on mask requirements
Dear Families,
Beginning Monday, March 28, masks will be optional for all students and staff once we reach our designated play spots in the park. Our liaison at the DOHMH reached out to let us know that while we should remain masked as we travel through the park in large groups, we may now unmask at our play spots. Because children will still need to have masks on to walk into the park, please have them on your child during check in. We will also still wear masks on any occasion where we will need to go indoors, such as when we seek shelter in the Picnic House due to extreme weather events. While these events are rare, it is important we are all prepared.
You have probably also heard Mayor Adams’s announcement that beginning Monday, April 4, masks will be optional for all children and staff in indoor locations and public spaces as well. We have not received updated guidance from the DOHMH regarding optional masking indoors or as we travel through the park, but we will share that with you if and when we receive it.
As a program that is exclusively outdoors, we feel cautiously optimistic moving forward with this new guidance, as transmission rates outdoors continue to be extremely low risk. We understand that some families may choose to continue having their child wear a mask at all times during class, excepting mealtimes. If you would like your child to remain masked for the duration of class, please let us know and we will ensure your child remains masked during play. Additionally, if you have any concerns due to specific family or health needs, please let us know and we will do what we can to support you through this change.
Thank you all for your continued support and collaboration as we keep these nature kids and teachers safe and healthy!
an important message regarding winter 2021
Dear Brooklyn Nature Days Families,
We have been fielding concerns from families and staff members regarding safely operating our winter session during the current rise in COVID numbers in New York City. Simultaneously, we have spent the holiday break monitoring the rise of COVID cases in the city, following the information coming from state and city officials, deciphering what another city shutdown would mean for our program, and discussing multiple scenarios of how to safely run our program during the upcoming winter session.
After much deliberation, it is with a collective heavy heart that we have decided to cancel our Winter 2021 session. This was a difficult decision to make but unfortunately, due to the increase in COVID cases and the strong possibility of increased restrictions in NYC, we feel this decision is best for the health and safety of our Brooklyn Nature Days community as a whole.
This means that as of now, all Winter 2021 programming as it was originally planned is canceled and teachers have been temporarily furloughed. We had a Zoom meeting with our teachers early this morning to discuss the temporary closure. Part-time teachers will be eligible for unemployment and full-time teachers will be offered part-time administrative work with us as well as partial unemployment benefits and medical insurance stipend. These benefits, along with the enhanced pandemic relief benefits, will ensure our staff receives funds comparable to what they would be receiving while working in the park with us. We are hopeful the time will come later this winter that we can safely and sustainably resume classes and will then offer a winter mini-session which will be available to all interested families who were enrolled in our original winter 2021 semester. Any decision regarding a winter mini-session will be based on testing numbers, medical and scientific recommendations, and other intelligence from health officials.
While outdoor programs are low-risk with regards to transmission, we all have families, partners, and housemates that work and spend time in various places in the city. While we understand everyone is being as cautious as they can, exposure is inevitably going to affect our classes as infection rates continue to rise. Additionally, although Brooklyn Nature Days’s classes are all outdoors, our program is still subject to the same protocols as an indoor program. This means shutting down any groups affected by suspected or confirmed exposure to COVID for 10-14 days. During the fall, when infection rates were as low as 3% it became a challenge to staff our classes, despite having a set of support teachers on hand to fill in at each drop off location in the event of an absence. We must maintain the teacher-to-student ratios as regulated by the city (and promised to families and staff). Therefore, we can never run classes without sufficient staffing in place. Our teachers are unable to conduct classes remotely as online learning is antithetical to our mission as an all outdoor, nature immersion program.
We know that for many families, our classes have been a much-needed bright spot in an impossible year. While it is important to us to provide consistency for all of our students, the past 9 months has forced us to make some extremely difficult choices in order to prioritize health and safety. As much as we want to be out there in the park exploring with your children, the unfortunate reality is that, with COVID numbers on the rise as well as the difficulties related to navigating so many potential exposures with children, families, and staff--it is unsustainable and unsafe for our classes to continue at this time.
Families can expect to receive an email tomorrow with a form to submit their preference for a refund or credit for the winter 2021 session. Please fill out the form and submit your preference by Monday, January 11th, 2021 so that we can begin the process of fulfilling requests. Any request received after Monday, January 11th, 2021 will automatically be processed as a credit to be used towards the spring, summer, or fall 2021 sessions only, so please be sure to submit before the due date.
Our spring session is not affected at this time and we are optimistic that it will run as planned.
With unending gratitude and the hope that we will see you all this later this winter
-Sarah, Lilly, & Susannah
Important Update: Please read
Hello Families—
We have 3 COVID-related updates to share with you and while it is a lot of information, we do ask that you read it all in its entirety, as these COVID safety protocols are very important to the safety of our whole BND community.
As Covid cases are on the rise, both locally and in other parts of our state and country, we wanted to remind families of important safety protocols and update existing ones to reflect new city and statewide guidelines.
As the holidays approach, along with increased COVID cases, any travel/visits outside of NYC need to be communicated with BND. This includes both states requiring mandatory quarantine & PCR testing as noted in the updated NYC Covid Guidelines as well as states not on the governor’s list. While the governor’s list of restricted states does not include certain nearby states, their rate of infection is currently quite high as well. If anyone in your immediate family travels to these states, we will ask for specific details as to the length of trip, activities, interactions, and precautions taken. We will then decide how to proceed and if the quarantine & PCR test results are necessary prior to your child returning to class.
Please note: in addition to travel for you, your child, or immediate family, it is also necessary to communicate if you have any guests, caregivers, or interactions with those that have come from out of NYC, especially from restricted and high infection rate states.
Please read the below carefully
If NYC public schools go fully remote in the coming weeks, we still intend to continue running BND classes as planned, as we are a separate organization who operates solely outdoors. However, in the event of increased state or city regulations/restrictions, which would prevent us from being able to run classes, or if we reach a point in which we feel it would be irresponsible or unsafe to continue classes, we would need to close. The length of any sort of BND closure would be decided upon given the information we have in the moment.
As stated above, as a result of the recent changes to Governor Cuomo‘s COVID-19 travel protocols, we are updating ours at Brooklyn Nature Days as well. Please keep these travel guidelines in mind when making Thanksgiving travel plans and please let us know if you have traveled or plan to travel outside of NYC.
Please read the following guidelines carefully and note that even though Pennsylvania, Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and Connecticut are not on Governor Cuomo‘s mandatory quarantine list, due to increased cases everywhere we are not exempting them at Brooklyn Nature Days. Travel to the contiguous states listed above can be reviewed on a case-by-case basis but as a general rule, your family will need to quarantine for four days and receive negative PCR test results if you travel outside the New York City.
The guidelines for travel outside New York City are as follows:
The traveler must, upon arrival back in New York, quarantine for three days.
On day 4 of their quarantine, the traveler must obtain a COVID test. If this test comes back negative, the traveler may exit quarantine upon receipt of the negative diagnostic test.
Please also note that any family members traveling TO New York City to visit you FROM any other state must get a test 3 days prior to their arrival in New York. If this test is negative, they are permitted to travel to New York City. They must, in addition, follow the two step guidelines above that include a 3-day quarantine followed by another COVID test on day 4 of their arrival in NYC.
https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory
Another change we need to implement, effective Monday, 11/16, concerns daily temperature checks. We have noticed that cold temperatures, wind, and other severe weather elements cause our thermometers to stop working and become unreliable. For that reason, we are now asking families to check their child’s temperature at home before bringing their child to class. We have searched high and low for thermometers that work well in all weather, but there is just nothing that is 100% reliable enough for our purposes. Please take your child’s temperature before leaving for class each morning and notify us if it is higher than normal.
ALL STAFF AND CHILDREN MUST TAKE TEMPERATURES AT HOME PRIOR TO COMING TO CLASS TO REPORT RESULTS.
Brightwheel has added a health check-in to their check-in kiosk which we will begin using on Monday 11/16. Teachers will still ask you the daily health questions but now it will also include “what was your child’s temperature this morning?” The questions will also be built into the check in process and teachers will just read them to you and check them off and proceed with check-in if you answer “no” to each question.
Teachers will still carry thermometers to double check any kiddo who seems unwell throughout the morning and afternoon. Teachers will also continue to recheck any child who stays past 1pm.
All of these updates can also be found on our COVID blog here: https://brooklynnaturedays.com/covid19-updates
Thank you all for your support and compliance with these updated safety protocols. It takes a whole community to keep one another safe during these strange times and we appreciate each of you being on this public health journey with us. Please let us know if you have any questions and thank you for sharing your budding naturalist with us!
COVID Safety Procedures & Protocol
We have created a page to share our staff covid safety procedures and protocol with families. Please access this living document by visiting: https://brooklynnaturedays.com/covid-appendix
An update regarding new COVID-19 safety protocol
Dear Fall Families (and those whose requests are still being processed),
We deeply appreciate everyone’s patience while we have waited for and gathered updates from the city and state governments regarding guidelines and safety protocol in this new era of COVID-19. We are grateful to be in a position to reopen, as current studies support that being outdoors has low risk potential for COVID spread. Based on the current official recommendations, our plans for the Fall 2020 session are outlined below. Please note that these are subject to change in accordance with official safety regulations.
Health and Safety:
All adults must wear masks at all times. This includes teachers while with children, as well as all parents, guardians, and caregivers that come into contact with our groups during drop off, pickup, or any other necessary time. Masks for children will not be required, as they are not developmentally appropriate for many of our younger students. You are, of course, welcome to have your child attend classes with us in their masks. We will encourage children to wear their masks if caregivers send them along, but we are not able to strictly enforce it.
Social distancing must be maintained during daily drop off and pickups, with space given as each child is signed in and joins their teacher.
We will do our best to enforce social distancing during play and mealtimes. Children will still walk into the park holding onto our wagons or a teacher’s hand.
While children will be encouraged to play and explore with distance from other children, teachers will still be in physical contact with students as needed to tend to injuries, assist with clothing and bathrooming, and offer comfort. We will not be able to prevent students from touching or being near each other at all times.
Books will no longer be kept out for the children to share and instead will be read by teachers during snack, lunch, and other down time.
Daily temperature and health checks are required for all staff upon arrival, as well as children arriving to class each day. Families will be asked daily about the overall health of their child and immediate family to ensure there aren’t any COVID-related symptoms or exposure.
All teachers, staff, and children with ANY signs of illness must stay home until they receive a diagnosis that allows them to return to class. If your child demonstrates any virus symptoms during class, or just seems unwell overall, we will call you and have you pick them up immediately. Symptoms include but are not limited to: fever, vomiting, cough, wheezing, headache, diarrhea, shortness of breath, sore throat.
Frequent hand sanitizing will be required, including, (but not limited to) arrival, before snack/lunch, after snack/lunch, after a diaper change/using the potty or restroom, and before dismissal.
Supplies:
Brooklyn Nature Days will provide each child with a collapsible silicone bucket to bring to and from class each day. Buckets will be clipped to the outside of each child’s dry bag with a carabiner clip and will then be readily available for each individual child to use as they wish during class. This bucket will be theirs to keep and will not be shared among children. We will only be providing single-use, open-ended materials for each student during class time.
Each child will need to bring the following items from home daily:
Snack (MUST be peanut/tree nut free)
A filled water bottle with a covered spout, as well as an extra water bottle for refills, as we will not be using park fountains and refilling stations
Lunch (if your child is enrolled in 1pm or 4pm extended day, or in our homeschool classes). MUST be peanut/tree nut free
A small mat or towel to sit on during class, to help socially distance children during our meeting, snack, and lunch circles
Extra clothing: seasonally appropriate, including socks and underwear
Diapers and a changing mat (if applicable)
Their individual collapsible bucket
Sunscreen and bugspray CLEARLY labeled in a Ziploc bag. Children must arrive wearing sunscreen and bug spray and we will help them reapply during snack.
Families are responsible for disinfecting all items noted above each day to ensure they are clean and ready for use when your child arrives to class.
Our youngest children will use our outdoor portable potty, disinfected between each use. Our older children will use the indoor public park restrooms and will adhere to mandated social distancing put in place by park officials.
Inclement Weather Makeups
In the past, we would offer an indoor class in a public space if the weather made it unsafe to be outside.This is no longer possible due to the pandemic safety restrictions. Instead, we will now need to cancel class on days where the weather forecast does not allow for safe outdoor play. In this case, we will send a message to families via Brightwheel by 6am the day of class, and all children scheduled to attend that day will receive the option of a makeup class scheduled later in the semester. These makeup days will be scheduled by Brooklyn Nature Days and alternative makeup days will not be offered. We are outdoors rain or shine; inclement weather for us means dangerous conditions only, such as severe cold, wind advisories, and thunderstorms.
COVID-19 Positive Tests and/or Possible Exposure:
It is to the benefit of all that there is open and regular communication regarding the health and well-being of all teachers, staff, children, and their immediate families in regards to COVID and possible exposure. We ask that all individuals involved in our Brooklyn Nature Days community immediately report any suspected or confirmed cases of COVID to our directors. Once we receive this information, we will immediately report the information to the city and follow all guidelines for tracing, contact, and necessary quarantines or closure denoted by the specifics of each situation.
We will likely require all students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 if and when a vaccine becomes widely available, readily accessible, and advised by local health officials. We will make the most informed, safest choice if and when that time comes.
Government Mandated COVID Related Closures:
In the event our classes will be unable to operate due to government restrictions, which results in citywide and/or statewide closures, families will receive the option of a full refund or credit (minus registration fee) for the duration of time in which classes cannot operate.
Brooklyn Nature Days COVID Related Closures:
On a smaller level, we will be closely monitoring any reports of suspected or positive COVID cases within each individual class. In the event a closure or quarantine is required by local city health officials for a particular group of individuals or class(es), makeup classes will be offered later in the semester for all classes missed.
Thank you, from the bottoms of our nature hearts, for sharing your budding naturalists with us and for being with us as we reopen amidst this extremely difficult time for all, and for your support and compliance with these safety protocols. It is our number one priority to keep all staff, students, and their families safe and we appreciate your collaboration with our efforts. Please reach out with any questions or individual concerns and we look forward to seeing you in the park!
Looking forward,
Sarah, Lilly, and Susannah
Afterschool classes for Fall 2020
Due to continuing COVID-19 safety concerns and care for our staff and families, it is with a heavy heart that we inform you that we will not be running our afterschool classes this fall. Enrolled families will receive a full refund for the fall semester. Alternatively, if you prefer, we can offer you a credit towards future enrollment for any classes in 2021. We will continue to closely monitor all COVID-19 safety recommendations and DOE decisions and hope to offer after school classes again in 2021.
Please reach out to afterschool@brooklynnaturedays.com if you have any questions or need to follow up with any account/credit/billing issues.
With regards to new safety protocol...
We understand families are excited for the upcoming fall session. We are currently updating our safety protocol and will have an update regarding new measures we are taking during the COVID-19 pandemic up on our website by August 3rd. We appreciate your patience while we completely restructure our procedures in preparation for the upcoming season.
In the meantime, please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at enrollment@brooklynnaturedays.com with any questions you may have.
Status of summer 2020 classes
Dear Summer Families,
We want to thank you for your patience these last few weeks as we evaluated and reevaluated the safest way forward for our summer session. With new public health variables emerging each day, we wanted to ensure we took the time to make the safest, best choice for all families and our staff.
We want to make this large amount of information as digestible as possible, so please take the time to read each point below. Please do not email us unless you have emergency circumstances that need to be addressed immediately, as we are working 24/7 to iron out all the details of the below.
Summer 2020 classes as we had planned them are canceled.
Instead, we will have 5 weeks of mini-sessions during the month of August. As the city is projected to be in Phase 4 of reopening at that time, which includes education, we anticipate being able to operate. These August mini-sessions will be tailored to fit COVID-19 safety protocols, so please read these guidelines carefully. They will be outlined in the email we will send out early next week.
Families already enrolled in August classes will have priority enrolling in these classes, followed by families enrolled in June/July. Further details and enrollment for these classes will come next week.
Additionally, we will send refund, credit, and tuition donation options in our next email. Please wait for these options, as we are confident our form will answer your questions.
We also wanted to let you know that we are in the process of building a school, set to open in early 2021. If you would like to donate your tuition to BND so that we can bring back staff and move forward with our school, you will have the option of doing so. The new school will NOT affect our outside classes; it will be a nature-based preschool but our all-outdoor park classes will continue until the end of time, so don't worry!
Again, thank you for your support of BND and for sharing your budding naturalists with us. If you are unable to join us this summer, we hope to have your child with us during another session in the future. We wish you health and safety during this time.
Best,
Sarah, Lilly, & Susannah
Checking in with summer families...
We are aware of Governor Cuomo’s announcement regarding NY State summer programs being able to open beginning June 29th. We are hopeful that this is an indication that our summer program can run in some capacity — However, we also need to get clearance from the city. Our hope is to have an email update out to families on Friday, June 5th.
Thank you for your patience,
Sarah, Lilly, and Susannah
A brief update regarding our summer session...
Hello families,
We are remaining hopeful regarding summer classes & are currently planning and making preparations to move forward with the summer program. Since everything about our current global situation is changing day by day we understand that we may need to reassess as things continue to develop. We plan on updating families regarding the status of summer classes after May 15th when we get another update from the governor regarding current public protocol.
We hope you and your family are remaining safe and healthy. We will be in touch soon.
All the best,
Sarah, Lilly, and Susannah
Talking to your kids about COVID-19
At Brooklyn Nature Days, language and the words we use to communicate are important to us: the words we choose, the tone we use, our facial expressions, and body language all matter. In uncertain times, it can be especially difficult to focus our words and gather together what we want to convey to our children. If you’re looking for some tips to help you navigate these tough conversations with your little one, we have compiled some below. We hope this helps, even a little bit.
Be honest.
If your child notices you feeling upset, don’t hide it from them. Children pick up on subtle emotional cues and it can be so much more anxiety-producing for them when we keep them in the dark. Speak honestly, using developmentally appropriate language they will understand. If you are speaking to a 3-4 year old, it might sound something like “I see you are noticing that I am feeling worried. Sometimes grownups feel scared and worried, too, but I will always keep you safe.”
If your child asks why they aren’t able to join us for classes in the park right now, you might say, “It isn’t safe for people to share close space right now. Let’s talk about what you like to do at nature class and we can try & do some of those things together.” If you are fortunate enough to be able to get out and take hikes in nature while practicing safe social distancing, ask your child to lead the way and be your nature teacher. Tell them their friends and teachers are missing them too and that their teachers are preparing for when we can be back in the park together.
Use developmentally appropriate language.
While children don’t need to know the number of COVID-19 cases in NYC, the specifics of government response, or the recovery rate, be honest while answering their questions using developmentally appropriate language & as few words as possible. For example, a 3 year old might ask “What is coronavirus?” A developmentally appropriate response can be “A new germ that could make a lot of people sick.” If they follow up and ask “Can I get coronavirus?” Be forthcoming without using alarming language: “By washing our hands and giving people a lot of space we are doing our best to keep our bodies healthy.”
Don’t go on and on with your answers. Be brief, succinct, and mindful of your child's reaction. Only give them the information they need at that moment. If your child moves on from the conversation, you can feel comfortable moving on as well.
Tell them they are safe.
If you are working from home while your child is also home you may feel pulled in lots of different directions -- it is common to feel half-present or half-engaged while trying to multitask between work and your child. Remember that it is not the quantity of time you spend with your child but the quality of the time you spend with them. Giving your child even just 15 minutes of your complete attention will make a huge difference. Make this extra time together special and comforting, child-focused and device free.
Tell them they are safe and you will keep them safe even when things feel scary. You can say, “I hear you saying that you are scared. I want you to know that I will always keep you safe.” Ask them: “What makes you feel safe?”
Be flexible with new routines.
Routines and consistency make children feel safe and secure which is what makes times like these extra challenging for families. In the morning, try and give your child an idea of what to expect or some activities you hope to do that day. Ask them if there is something special they would like to do (or give them 2-3 choices of adult-approved activities to choose from). Be open to creating new routines to fit into the changes your family is experiencing.
Creating a visual schedule can help a child feel confident in knowing how their day will go, and gives them a sense of control & ownership over the day. You can write down a list or create a board outlining the flow of your day and go over it with your child during breakfast. Be mindful of what works and what doesn’t and be flexible-- it’s ok to change things that just aren’t working for your family.
Use the benefits of technology to connect with classmates.
Continue your special routines and give them socially distant tweaks. For example: Special routines like Friday night pizza dates and regular play dates with friends obviously aren't possible right now, but you can buy ingredients and make pizza at home together and pretend you are running a pizza restaurant or have a Zoom hangout with friends and have a toy show-and-tell remotely.
Support their emotions.
If your child expresses to you that they miss their friends and want to go back to school, you can validate that by saying, “I hear that you miss your friends and your school. It is OK to feel that way. Is there anything I can do to help you feel close to them?”
Your child may have more moments of frustration, big tears or just go on a bit of a destructive tear as a result of lots of energy and over-stimulation from being pulled from their typical routines or being inside more than is usual. Show your child their feelings matter by taking the time to sit and listen, or just hold them. Feelings need to be felt and sometimes that means not feeling happy right now. Deep feelings aren’t always immediately resolved. You can tell them, “Sometimes sad feelings take some time to go away. I am here for you.”
Below are some additional language suggestions from vetted sources. We hope you can use these resources and our guide to help you get started. If there is a particular situation you are dealing with at home and you need some support (or you just need to talk), please feel free to reach out.
https://www.janetlansbury.com/2015/08/in-times-of-transition-our-children-need-to-feel-our-love-6-ways-to-help/
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/18/opinion/coronavirus-children.html
https://www.pbs.org/parents/thrive/how-to-talk-to-your-kids-about-coronavirus
Activities (we will continue to update this section).
Free app access from our friends at Yo Re Mi, who provide our music enrichment at Brooklyn Nature Days: https://www.yoremikids.com/app
At home nature crafts: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/507006870546454270/
Josh Gad (the voice of Olaf) reads children’s books: https://twitter.com/hashtag/GadBookClub?src=hashtag_click
Oliver Jeffers and the #stayathomebookclub on instagram live: https://www.instagram.com/oliverjeffers/
Be well, take care, and cuddle those nature kiddos for us. We can’t wait until the day we can be back in the park with them.
Regarding our afterschool classes...
Hello Brooklyn Nature Days families,
Due to the NYC DOE closure, all Brooklyn Nature Days after school classes are cancelled until further notice. We are currently working hard on a plan for the next few weeks and we will reach out with more information later this week.
Thank you for your patience and understanding as we figure out how to proceed due to the unforeseen challenges of COVID-19. Please take good care of you and yours and we hope to see you in the park soon!
Sarah, Lilly, and Susannah
A shift in our upcoming spring schedule...
Dear Brooklyn Nature Days Families,
We are continuing to monitor the developments coming from the CDC concerning the COVID-19 pandemic and will continue to make the most up-to-date, factually informed decisions possible. As we are sure you all understand, this is a minute-by-minute process presenting unprecedented situations for everyone in our community and beyond.
Given the most up-to-date information regarding the COVID-19 virus, Brooklyn Nature Days has decided to shift the start date of our spring semester to Monday, March 23, 2020. The spring semester will now run from Monday, March 23, 2020 to Friday, June 19th, 2020.
We are making this decision as a precautionary measure as more information about the COVID-19 virus comes to light and, in particular, how it is affecting Brooklyn. Per our previous COVID-19 update sent on 3/10, we are grateful so many families have been adhering to our request to keep unwell children home. We have these measures in place for our staff as well and because of this, teachers with even the slightest symptoms have been asked to stay home until they are symptom-free. No one in our Brooklyn Nature Days community—including children, staff, and parents—have tested positive for COVID-19. However, we are anticipating an influx in teacher absences as a result of our strict no-symptom policy.
As we begin our spring semester, we want to ensure we have a consistent staff fully in place and prepared to explore and play with the students. For that reason, we feel that it is important to take this extra week to allow our staff to care for their health. Please note that this shift applies to our homeschool and morning school classes only. Our after school classes will continue per the DOE’s direction.
Looking ahead, if at any point the NYC DOE closes public schools or a member of our Brooklyn Nature Days community tests positive for the COVID-19 virus, we will cancel classes and notify families as soon as possible. The length of this closure will be subject to the exact situation that presents itself and we will share more specific details if and when that happens.
In the event of class cancellations, our intent is to schedule make-up classes. We will work with families to confirm makeup dates as soon as we are able. As we have a staff of over 30 people, the majority of which are full time and rely on their regular salary and benefits to support themselves and their families, we will not be issuing refunds. Thank you for your understanding as we plan for this completely unforeseeable situation.
Stay safe, wash your hands, limit your travel, and work from home if you are able. We will continue to work diligently to keep you informed and to make the safest, most rational decisions. Families may reference this page for up to date information regarding Brooklyn Nature Days classes during this time https://brooklynnaturedays.com/covid19-updates. Your children’s safety is most important to us and we want to ensure we are able to serve them fully. Thank you, as always, for sharing your budding naturalists with us at Brooklyn Nature Days.
With gratitude,
Sarah, Lilly, & Susannah
Class updates during COVID-19
In light of how quickly things are developing we created this blog so that we may continue to keep families up to date on protocol and changes to our classes during the COVID-19 outbreak. Our first update to the Brooklyn Nature Days community sent originally on 3/10 can be found here.
Please bookmark this page and check back for more updates. As always, families should feel free to reach out to us directly with any questions.
Keeping our community safe during COVID-19
At Brooklyn Nature Days, we are honored to work outdoors each day with the budding naturalists of tomorrow: exploring, playing, observing. Their care and safety are our utmost priorities each day.
For this reason, we want to share some information with you regarding the new Coronavirus strain that has recently come to light. Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that can cause either mild illness, such as a cold, or can make people sick with pneumonia. As many of you are well aware, a novel (new) coronavirus was detected in thousands of people worldwide, primarily in China. The infection, called COVID-19, can be spread from person to person. A "novel coronavirus" is a strain that has not been previously found in humans.
As of the moment of this posting, 25 people have been diagnosed with this novel coronavirus in New York City (see up-to-date case count here: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/health/health-topics/coronavirus.page#cases). The risk to New Yorkers of contracting this novel coronavirus is still considered low.
We at Brooklyn Natue Days are taking precautions against the spread of germs while still going about our daily business in the park with our nature kiddos and at home with our families. We are have implemented temporary wellness protocols that will reduce the likelihood of spreading germs & will continue to hold classes as usual, with some added safety precautions in place until cold & flu season has passed or the CDC announces that the virus has been contained.
What Brooklyn Nature Days is doing
We are putting a hold on tea for all classes. Children will drink from the water bottles they bring from home ONLY.
We are keeping water bottles off the mat. Bottles will be in the wagon, only to be taken out for snack or when a child needs hydration.
We are using paper snack bags in lieu of reusable silicone cups for the time-being.
We are having children use extra soap and will manage hand washing to ensure each child scrubs their hands for 20 seconds.
Teachers will continue to wash their hands effectively and will continue to use our single use gloves when serving food to children.
We will continue to strictly enforce our sick policy; no child with a fever in the last 24 hours may come to class. Your child's teacher will call you and have you pick up your child if they appear sluggish, feverish, or unwell.
Teachers will disinfect their phones with alcohol wipes at the start and end of each day. At pick up or drop off we will ask caregivers for their sign in/out code and input it ourselves to reduce physical contact.
What Families Can DoYou should go about your daily life, but take the same precautions that you would during cold and flu season:
Get your flu shot for you and your children — it's not too late. Although the flu shot will not protect you from COVID-19, it will help prevent the flu which has similar symptoms to this coronavirus.
Cover your nose and mouth with a tissue or sleeve when sneezing or coughing — do not use your hands. Help your child learn to cough or sneeze into a tissue and then dispose of it immediately.
Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Oversee your children as they wash their hands and help them to sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star (or another song of the same length) as they wash. Do not touch your face with unwashed hands.
Please stay home from work if you are ill and keep your child at home if they seem sluggish, have a fever, or a cough. Call your pediatrician for more information if your child has these symptoms. When your child returns to class after an illness, please be extra diligent in ensuring they are ready to return and have no lingering symptoms.
We will continue to closely monitor all developments concerning this novel coronavirus and will implement further safety precautions if and when it becomes necessary. If you think that you, your child, or someone close to you has been exposed to the virus or has symptoms, please let us know immediately so we can have all the information needed to continue keeping our staff and students safe.
As always, thank you for choosing our program and for entrusting your children to us. We take your child’s safety and well-being, both physical and emotional, very seriously & and are honored you chose to share them with us.
Please feel free to reach out to us with any questions you may have.
With gratitude,
The Brooklyn Nature Days Team