Mountain Breeze Preschool COVID-19 Policies
Please know that we are a five star licenced preschool and we follow directions and guidance from North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services: Division of Child Development and Early Education. We have regular contact with the local health department as well as the WNC health nurse for daycare centers and preschools as well as our licensing director. The guidelines change as we find out more information, so we will adjust our policies as needed. The guidelines that we follow are here.
Drop-off and Pick up:
To minimize exposure, we prefer parents and visitors to refrain from entering the preschool or playground unless necessary. We will continue to have a car line for pick up and drop off. This does not leave space and time for socialization with other parents or teachers, but if you need to check in, we can check in quickly or set up a time to talk.
When you arrive at school, you can drive up to the gate at the playground. If there are cars in front of you, please do not get out of the car, or let your children out of the car, please wait patiently. You can drop your child off at the playground gate and a teacher will meet you. We will sanitize your child’s hands before entering.
When to keep your child at home, illness, quarantine, and returning to school:
Please do not bring your child to school if they are sick.
You can NOT bring your child to school if, your child is experiencing or has experienced in the last 24 hours:
Fever (temperature 99.5 or above)
Chills
Shortness of breathing/difficulty breathing
New cough
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Diarrhea
Nausea/vomiting
New onset of severe headache, especially with a fever
If they have been exposed to anyone that has Covid-19
*please do not give your child fever reducing medicine before school
*If your child is out sick, please let us know why.
1. If your child has any of the above symptoms they can NOT return to school unless they have a negative COVID-19 test OR they have been without symptoms for 10 days. We must follow these guidelines as a licensed facility. We realize that children may have fevers and coughs that are not COVID-19, but these are the times that we live and the precautions we need to take. Testing is quick, easy, and free at the Madison County Health Department and results are usually returned in 24 hours.
2. If a child or a teacher at Mountain Breeze School tests positive for COVID-19 we will most likely have to close and quarantine for 14 days, we will be in touch with the health department to follow their direction.
3. If your child has been exposed to COVID-19, please let us know if a family member or someone that has been in contact with your child has tested positive. Your child will need to be quarantined and will not be able to attend school, if your child does not have a positive test, we may not have to close the school and quarantine. In this situation, since it is not direct exposure, it will be up to the health department if we need to close.
I know this is different and difficult, but please remember that all the teachers at Mountain Breeze School are increasing their risk by being here, and we all want to stay healthy for ourselves and our families. At the same time have fun , we also want to keep your families safe too.
We will no longer be asking the screening questions in the morning but please know you can only bring your child to preschool if you can answer NO to all of these questions:
1. Have you or any of the children you are dropping off had close contact in the last 14 days with someone diagnosed with Covid-19, or has any health department or health care provider been in contact with you and advised you to quarantine.
2. Do you or so any of the children you are dropping off have any of these symptoms?
Fever
Chills
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
New cough
New loss of taste or smell
3. Since they were last at the child care facility, have you or have any of the children you are dropping off been diagnosed with Covid-19?
Face Coverings:
All teachers and children five and older will wear masks when social distancing is not feasible. While outside we will mostly be without masks unless we are less than six feet for more than ten minutes. After one year, we have noticed that children are constantly moving and do not stay within six feet of each other or teachers for extended periods of time while we are outside. When we are indoors teachers and children five and older will wear masks when we can not be less than six feet apart and when we are in closer contact for longer periods of time. Children younger than five, are welcome to wear a mask, just send one to school and let us know your wishes. We have noticed that not all children tolerate masks well and some end up chewing on the mask, causing there to be more germs spread. If that is the case, we will have children change their masks.
We will be conscious of social distancing but we know that social distancing with preschoolers is not feasible. As teachers we feel for long term mental development we need to have contact with children in our care. We will hug your children, hold their hand, and console them when they need consoling. We will be wearing a mask when needed and sanitizing. We will have activities set up for kids inside and outside. Children tend to gather together in groups of two to three children. Children will have contact with each other while at preschool. We will deter large groupings of children. We will attempt not to have small groups of children to gather for long periods of time, but please realize that there will be contact between your child and other children.
Cleaning/Toys:
We have a lot of cleaning policies. We have switched from sanitizer to disinfectant on all of the surfaces.
We will wipe down all touched surfaces at the end of the day with disinfectant.
We will continue to wash hands at all the suggested times during the day that are detailed in the handbook. If we are outside, we will use hand sanitizer in lieu of washing hands. If we are indoors, we will use safe handwashing techniques.
We will be conscious of social distancing but we know that social distancing with preschoolers is not feasible. As teachers we feel for long term mental development we need to have contact with children in our care. We will hug your children, hold their hand, and console them when they need consoling. We will be wearing a mask and sanitizing. We will have activities set up for kids inside and outside. Children tend to gather together in groups of two to three children. Children will have contact with each other while at preschool. We will deter large groupings of children. We will attempt not to have small groups of children to gather for long periods of time, but please realize that there will be contact between your child and other children.
Snacks and Meals:
We will serve snacks and lunch already plated, so there will not be any family style eating. We will position children, so they are not facing each other while they are eating.
Outside:
We will increase the amount of time we spend outside, we already spend over three hour outside. I have been advised by the health department several times to try to increase the amount of time outside to minimize exposure. We love being outside, so we are happy about this. Please make sure your children are dressed for the chilly mornings.
Assumption of Risk:
We will require a signed assumption of risk form. I know this all seems heavy and scary. These are uncertain times and we are also wary. We want to do the best to keep your children physically safe and enrich them mentally and spiritually as well.