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