+ What are the differences between a case, a contact, and a contact of a contact? (updated 1/10/22)

A Case: Someone who has a confirmed case of COVID-19 through a positive test result, symptoms after an exposure to someone with a positive test result, OR symptoms related to COVID when the community transmission is high.

A Contact: Someone who has been within 6 feet of a confirmed case for a cumulative 15 minutes within a 24 hour period. Masking and Location are not a determining factor.

A Contact of a Contact: Someone who has been within 6 feet of a Contact for a cumulative 15 minutes within a 24 hour period. Masking and Location are not a determining factor.

+ What are the differences between isolation, quarantine, and observation? (updated 1/10/2022)

Cases go into ISOLATION for 10 days and my return after once the 10 days have passed as long as they have also been symptom free for 24 hours.

Unvaccinated Contacts: go into QUARENTINE for 10 days from the last date of exposure to the case. If possible, they should be tested 5 days after their last exposure.

Fully Vaccinated Contacts: are observed for symptoms. They may continue to attend the center. If possible, they should be tested 5 days after their last exposure.

Contacts of a Contact: are observed for symptoms. They may continue to attend the center. This includes siblings of a contact who is home in QUARANTINE.

For the purpose of contact tracing, we consider all classroom groups to be contacts of one another.

+ What is the definition of “Fully Vaccinated”? (updated 1/10/2022)

FULLY VACCINATED means that it has been at least 14 days since, but not more than:

• 5 months – Pfizer 2 shot series
• 6 months – Moderna 2 shot series
• 6 months – J&J 1 shot Since you have received your vaccination. You are then considered FULLY VACCINATED 14 days after a Booster of either Pfizer or Modera, after completing any of the other approved vaccination protocols.

+ What happens if there is a case of COVID-19 at Common Ground?

If you suspect your child has COVID-19, please notify the center immediately.

• Report all test results to the center immediately.
• All of the individuals within the positive person’s classroom who were in attendance during the exposure period are considered contacts and would begin quarantine.

If your child is a close contact of the case, you will be notified immediately and asked to pick up your child, as your child would need to begin quarantine. Your information will be shared with the health department and they will advise you on the steps to take, including when and where to go to get tested.

If your child is a contact of a contact, you will be notified so that you can monitor your child.

If there is a case in the center, but you child is not a contact or a contact of a contact, you will be notified.

+ What is the exposure period?

The exposure period is the day the symptoms began or the day the positive test result was collected in absense of symptoms, and the two days preceeding.

+ What happens if someone in my household has been diagnosed with COVID-19?

If someone in your household has been diagnosed with COVID-19, please notify the center immediately. Your child will be considered a contact and would need to quarantine for 10 days from the last contact with the infected individual.

Their classmates will be notified, as contacts of a contact, so that they can be monitored for symptoms.

+ What mitigation procedures does Common Ground have in place?

All staff at Common Ground are required to be fully vaccinated within two weeks of becoming eligble for vaccinations.

We are strong believers in the MOSH PIT:

• M – Masks
• O – Outside whenever possible
• S – Social Distancing
• H – Hand washing/cleaning high touch surfaces
• P – Personal Responsibility – remembering to do all of this both in and out of the center
• I – Information and Facts
• T – Talk to your doctor when in doubt!

+ What is the illness policy?

All Children and Staff must follow the same policy: If someone has any of the following symptoms that are new or unusual for them, they must be evaluated by a physician and COVID testing is recommended, before they can return to care:

• Fever (100.4F)
• Cough
• Sore Throat
• Headache
• Congestion/Runny Nose
• Muscle Aches
• Loss of Taste/Smell
• Shortness of Breath
• Nausea/Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Tiredness
• Poor Appetite

They can return when:

• they provide a note with an alternative diagnosis or negative COVID test result AND have been symptom free for 24 hours
• OR without evaluation from a physician, if 10 days have passed from the initial symptom AND they have been symptom free for 24 hours

+ What is the policy on face masks/coverings? (update 1/10/2022)

UPDATE: Teachers will no longer be eating meals in the classrooms and will remain masked at all times in classrooms.

Indoors: Universal Masking is in place for all people age 3 and up, regardless of vaccination status.

Outdoors: Universal Masking is in place for all people age 5 and up when social distancing of 6 feet cannot be maintained, regardless of vaccination status.

We will work with children over the age of 2, but under the age of 5 on mask tolerance, the importance of wearing masks correctly, and through any fears that children may have regarding masks using positive reinforcement

+ Are you doing daily temperature checks? (7/17/2020)

Yes. All staff and children have their temperature taken upon arrival.

+ What is your "fever threshold"? (7/17/2020)

As recommended by the CDC: 100.4

This is a change from the state licensing standards which allows children to remain in care with a temperature under 101, as long as they do not require more care than a child without an elevated temperature.

+ How has the illness policy changed due to COVID? (8/5/2021)

Please see our full illness policy here, as this page will contain the most recent updates: https://www.commongroundchildcare.org/illness

+ What is the Hand Washing procedure?

This is procedure has not changed. Children wash hands for 20 seconds by singing the "wash your hands" song to the tune of frere jaques:

• Upon arrival
• before eating
• after eating
• after using the toilet or getting their diaper changed
• after returning to the classroom from anywhere else
• any time a teacher requests that they wash their hands

We will be using hand sanitizer between rotations on the playground.

+ What is the Cleaning and Sanitizing procedure?

Our center is cleaned throughout the day using a hard surface cleaner/sanitizer. Tables/surfaces are cleaned:

• before and after meals
• after table toy activities
• after art projects Classrooms are sanitized nightly using a bleach/water solution that is allowed to dry on the surface overnight.

Common area use will be limited to one group at a time. Common areas will be sanitized using our hard surface cleaner/sanitizer in between groups and there will be at least a 30 minute delay between groups.

The hard surface cleaner/sanitizer can be used:

• as a cleaner: by spraying it on and wiping it off.
• as a sanitizer: by spraying it on, letting it sit on the surface for 5 minutes, then wiping it off or allowing it to dry.

+ What cleaning and sanitizing products do you use?

We use a hard surface, food safe sink sanitizer and cleaner (SK2) provided by Cintas and a freshly mixed bleach/water solution of 5 TBSP of concentrated bleach to 1 gallon of water.

+ Are parents allowed in the center? (8/5/2021)

We prefer to keep parents out of the center at this point. However, we also understand that you may feel it necessary to enter the center for some reason. We are happy to accommodate necessary visits for fully vaccinated adults, that are arranged ahead of time.

Universal Masking is still required, regardless of vaccination status.

+ What doors will we use to enter and exit the facility?

We encourage the use of the classroom doors to keep people from being confined in the hallway. Parents can also approach the main office door by the garden.

+ Will you have a "car line" for drop off or pick up?

We will offer a car line for drop off daily from 8am to 8:30am.

The pick-up car line will only be offered on inclement weather days.

The car line will utilize the fenced-in blacktop area. You will drive through in a counter-clockwise direction – entering through the gate closest to the building and exiting through the gate at the far end of the blacktop.

+ What is the ‘Drop-Off’ procedure?

Children will be checked in by their parent using our contactless check-in station and their Brightwheel App. The child will then be dropped off with a staff member outside of the facility, either at the gate to the playground or through our car-line.

+ What is the ‘Pick-Up’ procedure?

Parents will use one of our contactless pick-up stations to check their child out using our Brightwheel app.

Children will be picked up from the on days with nice weather.

We will offer a pick-up "car-line" on days with bad weather only.

+ How are you performing health/wellness screenings? (7/17/2020)

Each morning, as part of the check-in process, parents complete a health screening using Brightwheel

Staff will then take the child’s temperature using a “non-contact” thermometer before accepting the child for care. We record the temperature in the Brightwheel app.

The fever threshold we will be using is 100.4 degrees.

Teachers will perform the daily wellness screening (this is something that all teachers did daily prior to covid and is part of our policies in general) to look for anything out of the ordinary, and will keep a record using the Brightwheel app.

We will monitor kids throughout the day.

+ What if my child develops a fever or becomes ill at home? (1/10/2022)

Please notify us immediately if you child becomes ill at home.

• Please keep your child home
• refer to https://www.commongroundchildcare.org/illness
• follow the advice and direction given by your child's health provider Communication is key here, so please keep us advised of the situation.

+ What if my child develops a fever or becomes ill at school? (1/10/2022)

• we will isolate the child
• contact you to pick the child up
• refer to https://www.commongroundchildcare.org/illness
• follow the advice and direction given by your child's health provider Again, communication is key here, so please keep us advised of the situation.

+ What if someone in my household develops a fever or becomes ill? (1/10/2022)

Please notify us immediately and:

• Please keep your child home
• refer to https://www.commongroundchildcare.org/illness
• follow the advice and direction given by your child's health provider Communication is key here, so please keep us advised of the situation.

+ My child is a preschooler, how are you going to keep them safe from possible COVID exposure from a child who is attending public school as well as Common Ground? (7/22/2020)

At this point, FCPS has shifted to an "All Virtual" start of the 2020-2021 school year, so this is not a concern yet.

The only way to completely avoid an exposure risk is by isolating and staying at home. By attending care, you are opening yourself and your family to a possible COVID exposure.

All of our proceedures and guidence that we are following is set up to help to minimize that risk.

With all of our programs, we are keeping each group separate from one another during the day and especially when inside the building.

While outdoors, groups will be assigned different outdoor areas to keep kids from mixing with one another.

A 6 ft social distance is encouraged for ALL age groups as well as mask wearing, when appropriate. Exposure risk is time, distance, and stetting based.

• outdoors > indoors
• further > closer
• less contact > close contact for a long duration

+ What are the ratios for each age group?

The state teacher to child ratios remain in effect:

• 1:4 – 6 weeks to 16 months
• 1:5 – 16 months to 24 months
• 1:8 – 24 months to 36 months
• 1:10 – 3 years to 4 years+
• 1:18 – 5 years+ to 8 years
• 1:20 – 9 years to 12 years

+for summer programs, children are considered “5 years old” if they turn 5 by September 30 of 2020

+ How many children/staff will be in each classroom?

Phase 2 Guidance limits:

• Children 3 and under to groups of no more than 12 people, including staff members
• Children aged 4 and up to groups of no larger than 22, including staff members

Our Program Details:

• 6 weeks to 16 months: at least 2 staff, up to 3 and no more than 8 children
• 16 months to 24 months: 2 staff and up to, but no more than 10 children
• 24 months to 36 months: 1 staff member and no more than 6 children or 2 staff members and up to 10 children
• 3 year olds: 1 to 2 staff members and up to 10 children
• 4 year olds: this group will always maintain a 1:10 ratio, but depending on enrollment could be grouped with 3 year olds (see above) or with 5 year olds (rising kindergarteners - see below)
• 5 year olds and up: While the guidance allows for groups up to 22, we would have 2 staff members with a group of up to 20 children, that group would be divided into two smaller groups anytime they were indoors as to maintain social distance.

+ How are you planning to keep children socially distanced?

We have been asked to keep children 6 ft apart whenever possible, especially when indoors.

We have been using "airplane" arms and assigned spots on carpets.

The rooms have been sectioned off to allow for individual play.

Each child will also have a bin for toys each day. They will choose toys, from the sanitized ones in the classroom, plus any that they have brought from home for their bin. These will be the only toys that the child plays with that day. At the end of the day, all toys and bins will be sanitized. This will keep kids from passing toys back and forth/sharing germs when indoors.

We will be working to make sure any unattended toys go into a bin outside of the room to be cleaned and sanitized.

Soft toys have been removed as of this time.

+ What meals are provided?

We provide Breakfast at 8:30am, Lunch at 11:30am, and Snack at 3:30pm.

You can find the menus on our calendar page: [https://www.commongroundchildcare.org/calendar][0]

+ Can I bring outside food?

Yes. You may bring food for your child, keeping in mind that we are a peanut and tree nut free facility.

+ What will my child's day look like?

This is a general schedule. Children will do activities, projects, learning exploration, be read to, and have instruction, it will just, whenever possible, be done outdoors!

• 8-8:25 arrival
• 8:30 breakfast
• 9:15-9:30 morning meeting
• 9:30-11:30 outside time
• 11:30 lunch
• 12 nap for children 2 and under, older children have more outdoor play or indoor play
• 1 nap for 3-4 year olds
• children who do not nap will get time outdoors OR quiet time indoors
• 3:15 snack
• 3:30-4:30 outdoor time/dismissal

Each classroom will adapt this general schedule to meet the needs of the children in the room. Infants (children under the age of 16 months) will be on an individual schedule.

+ Will my child still get to spend time outdoors?

Yes.

As outlined in the general schedule, we will be spending as much time outdoors as possible.

Research continues to find that there is a lower incidence of viral transmission outdoors, that is our reasoning for incorporating more outdoor time. Please see our daily schedule for details on when each group will be outdoors.

Infants will even have outdoor time.

+ What is the procedure for outdoor time?

Right now, we are allowing for "full access" to the playground for each age group due to the very small class sizes.

However we have a plan for when we have larger classes again. Here's the "zone" plan: The outdoor space will be sectioned off into different areas. Each area will have a canopy for shade and a water cooler.

Classes will rotate zones, with children using hand sanitizer between rotations. It is not recommended by the CDC to disinfect playground equipment at this time.

+ How will you make sure my child is protected from the sun?

We always apply sunscreen to exposed skin before we head outside and reapply in accordance with the label on the product. That procedure will not change.

Common Ground will provide one of the following mineral based sunscreens that are on the EWG safe sunscreen guide, probably one of the following:

• Beautycounter (either the lotion or spray)
• Badger
• Alba Botanica You may also bring your own sunsreen for your child.

We also suggest that you have a sunhat and light weight, sun protective clothing for your child as well.

In each playground zone, there will be a canopy for shade and a 5 gallon jug of water to refill water bottles.

+ What is the toileting/diapering procedure?

Children in diapers:

• diapers will be changed on a changing table or standing up by a masked and gloved caregiver following our licensing guidelines.
• The child and caregiver will then both wash their hands.

Children using the Toilet:

• The child will use the toilet with the least amount of assistance needed for hygiene.
• They will then wash their hands, with either direct or indirect supervision, and with help if needed.
• A masked and gloved teacher will then close then flush the toilet and closed the bathroom door quickly to avoid
• Once the toilet has been flushed, the bathroom will be wiped down (cleaned) with our hard surface sanitizer for the next child. If there is time to let the sanitizer sit on the surfaces for 5 minutes between need, we will try to do that.

+ What is the nap time procedure?

Children will nap in their classrooms, during their nap times. Cots will be placed head-to-feet as to keep maximum possible distance between children.

Nap will be similar to how it was done prior to closing. We understand that some older children do not sleep. They will be offered a book to look at on their cot, if they are not sleeping.

Laundry: We will be doing all laundry in house. Nap time Laundry for each classroom will be done on an assigned day, once per week, unless soiled/needed more frequently.

+ I have multiple children; will siblings get to visit one another?

Siblings in different classrooms may see each other during outdoor time, but we will not be combining or mixing groups.

+ Will there be water play?

Yes.

There will be different “wet” activities done as we continue to re-open. At this time, we will not be using the big bouncy pool, but will have sprinklers and other “non-touch” water activities.

+ Will my child go on walks?

Yes.

You will always be informed when your child’s class leaves the facility, and all groups will go with at least 2 staff members. We plan to utilize the Reston Association Temporary Road Picnic Pavilion and the Wainwright Recreation Area whenever they are available and not in use by another group.

+ How will mealtimes work?

We are still serving from communal dishes during mealtimes, however, we will be using disposible plates, so we will only be serving onto clean plates.