Newsletter: August 30
Dear Parents,
We have been in a bit of a transitional period as we prepare for the start of our school year! We have made it through our first week of Kindergarten and our FCPS before and after care program and we are happy to say that we feel confident that our “cohort/team” mitigation plan for the fall will help to keep our center open.
Covid Update
As you know, we have had quite a few covid cases connected to the center over the last month as the delta variant has surged in the area. Please remember to stay extra vigilant, as 3 of the 7 cases connected to our center in the last month have been in fully vaccinated adults who were masking in public places. You can always use the graphic associated with our Community Pledge when assessing the risk of certain activities. We have been working with the Fairfax County Health Department to make sure that we are doing everything we need to do to protect the center and would like to share the following updates:
Virginia is expected to surpass the January peak number of infections within the next 4-6 weeks
Children are being infected and hospitalized at a greater number, though the risk of severe disease does not seem to be increased at this time
Emergency Use Authorization for the Pfizer vaccine in children 5-12 years old is expected by the end of 2021
Experts speculate that the vaccine won’t be approved for children under the age of 5 until the end of 2022
We have been asked to report non-covid respiratory illnesses that happen within the same group of children within 14 days
While the CDC does have guidelines to end quarantine early when someone has been a contact of a case, the Fairfax County Health Department does not allow children back in care until the full 14 day quarantine period has passed and does not recommend anyone end quarantine early.
With all of this in mind, we have moved back to keeping staff limited to only certain classrooms. Children will remain in classroom cohorts and will not be combined indoors between the hours of 8am and 5:30pm. The cohorts will be a part of 4 teams and staff members will, as much as possible, remain only with their team. Of course, we may have to make adjustments if we have multiple staff absent, but each team has extra support to handle normal operations:
Infant/Toddler Team:
Bubble Buddies: Miss Marita, Miss Nana, Miss Susie
Little Penguins: Miss Patty, Miss Hui Hui, Miss Gitti
Playful Pandas: Miss Pinky, Miss Simi, Miss Susie - moving into the old Little Penguins room
Preschool Team (2 and 3 year olds):
Dancing Monkeys: Miss Delia, Miss Kisha, Miss Kristel
Rising Stars: Miss Petty, Miss Vanessa - moving into the old Playful Pandas room
Pre-K Team (4 year olds):
Busy Bees: Miss Adella, Mr. Zach, Miss Casey
Lovebugs: Miss Yolanda, Miss Celestine
School Aged Team:
Kindergarten: Miss Janette
School Aged: Miss Victoria
We are currently looking to hire another teacher, either lead or assistant, to join our Infant/Toddler Team and an assistant to join our School Aged Team. If you know anyone looking for a job in early childhood education, please have them send their resume to me!
Extended Hours Sign up
We are continuing to offer extended hours, from 7:30am through 6pm, but you must sign up for it: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/70a0f4faca723abff2-extended
Please note that this care will not be with your classroom cohort. We are still following all of our mitigation strategies, however, participation in extended hours does make them a contact of children who are not in their cohort and could cause them to be subject to a quarantine while their classroom remains open.
Staff Update
We are very sad to say goodbye to Mr. Josh! His last day a staff member was Friday, August 27th so that he can focus on school this semester.
We hope to be able to invite him back for an outdoor concert from time to time, and he’s said he’s available for babysitting!
Here’s a great post on our blog with some words from Mr. Josh: https://www.commongroundchildcare.org/blog-1/2021/8/27/goodbye-mr-josh
If you need his contact information, just shoot us an email and we can get it to you!
We are also happy to announce that Miss Yolanda is BACK! She’ll be opening our second 4 year olds classroom this fall. With the opening of this classroom, it takes us from being over full to having 5 available spots in our Pre-K program!
Miss Yolanda has been teaching in our 4s program at Common Ground since 2009 and we’re so happy to have her back!
We are also excited to welcome a new staff member:
“Hi everyone! My name is Casey Kendall and I recently graduated college from North Carolina State University. I am so excited to be working for Common Ground as a teacher assistant/inclusion specialist, and for the opportunity to provide these children with positive learning and growing experiences!”
Thank You, Summer Staff, for a Wonderful Summer!
As we wrap up our summer programming, we have to say thank you to our amazing Summer Staff! They brought a lot of energy to our program and we hope that they are enjoying their return to school and we look forward to having them back next summer. They have all promised to get in touch when they are back in the area and our school aged kids plan to write letters to them through out the year!
Reminders:
We are closed on Friday, September 3rd for a teacher work day and on Monday, September 6th for Labor Day! Fall programs begin on Tuesday, September 7th.
September’s Tuition Invoice contains a $150 registration fee for all children who are 2 and up!
CG Gives Back: With Hurricane Ida, Covid-19, and the Afghan Refugee Crisis, there are a lot of families that are in need. In the coming weeks and months we will be setting up ways our community can help support theirs, so please stay tuned to our blog, our newsletter, and your Brightwheel messages. A little kindness goes a long way, so whether you’re donating blood, donating money/goods, or donating time, you are making a difference in someone’s life.
Thank you for taking the time to read our news letter! As always, please email if you have any questions!
-The CG team