Good Morning Common Ground Family!

We had such a lovely time with all of our families that came to talk to Santa this weekend! A special thank you to Liz’s uncle, Wayne Truax, who was the perfect St. Nick for our “Stay Home with Santa” event! We learned a LOT about Santa’s life up at the North Pole, thanks to some INQUISITIVE children!

• Elves eat candy during the Christmas season, but the rest of the year, Santa is VERY strict and makes them eat healthy foods and a lot of vegetables.

• Santa was around during the time of the Dinosaurs, but they didn’t celebrate Christmas because the Dinosaurs couldn’t open presents and stomped around too much!

• There was a fresh snow up at the North Pole and the reindeer were all out playing this morning! Also, Santa loves all of the reindeer the same, much like he loves all of our children the same.

• 3896 is the number of FTEs “Full Time Elves” at the North Pole! The elves that visit your home are seasonal contractors with fantastic union benefits - they report to an elf named Bobby who updates the naughty and nice list!

Even though we were all in different living rooms, this was one of the most cozy, special little Santa get-togethers we’ve ever had. The kids really enjoyed being together, being read to, and talking about their holiday wishes without ever having to change out of their warm winter jammies.

Speaking of Santa, the parent community really came through as ‘Santa’ for the staff and their Holiday Bonuses! You can read more and the rest of the update from the board here.

Your WINTER Update:

This week Reston is expecting some winter storms! We could see up to 8" inches in accumulation!! Please know that we generally follow OPM guidelines on whether or not we are open or closed.

HOWEVER, if Reston’s weather is worse or better by a considerable amount, we will also make judgment calls so please check your Brightwheel account for messages the morning of any accumulation.

We will update any change in operations via:

• Brightwheel

• Email

• Facebook

• Instagram

• Website

Read Here for Common Ground’s thoughts on Winter Weather and our suggestions for Essential Winter Attire for your kiddos.

Covid CASE Update (it’s good news!)

There was a possible covid exposure in one of our classrooms last week. Due to that, we had to quarantine that classroom group until 12/18. We are happy to report that after contact tracing was completed by the Fairfax County Health Department (the group that is focused on spread in educational settings) that there is NO EVIDENCE of community spread within our center. That means that noone else within that classroom group tested positive for covid.

Broadly, it highlights the fact that Common Ground is effectively implementing the 5 key mitigation strategies recommended by the CDC, while also meeting the developmental and social needs of the children in our care. Thank you all, because this is a team effort and we know that everyone is doing their part to keep our center safe and OPEN.

Speaking of ‘open’, please make sure you check out our FAQ’s if you have any questions on if and/or when Common Ground may close again.

The answer is: Common Ground will only close again if it is ordered by the Health Department due to either community spread of a case of COVID or multiple unrelated cases of COVID OR if it is ordered by the Governor of Virginia.

As we head into the last three weeks of December, we’d like to take a minute to thank our community for being, well, a community! 2020 has brought new challenge after challenge, and together, we have overcome them and become stronger because of them! And now, a quick note from Miss Liz:

Thank you to everyone who has reached out to congratulate me on my official appointment as Director. I am beyond touched and grateful for the opportunity to continue to advocate for our staff and community!

Thanks again for making Common Ground a special place to be and drive safely tomorrow, unless we hear otherwise from OPM!

Have a happy holidays!

The Common Ground Team