Newsletter: December 30
Dear Parents,
We were all hoping for a better way to celebrate the new year, but 29 students/staff members have been out in either isolation or quarantine due to a covid exposure.
We need to reiterate the following policies:
Report absences every day your child is out: https://www.commongroundchildcare.org/absence
Report positive COVID test results to Liz IMMEDIATELY via email and/or text
Report exposure to a COVID positive person to Liz IMMEDIATELY via email and/or text
If you suspect that your child has COVID, but you do not have results yet, please text Liz
Our Community Pledge: https://www.commongroundchildcare.org/community-pledge
As a reminder, we follow the recommendations of the Fairfax County Health Department for licensed child care centers, which may be more conservative than the newest CDC guidance. We will update our policies as soon as the Fairfax County Health Department makes changes.
Up until this latest case of COVID, we had no spread within our center. However, we have had spread within one of our infant classrooms. This is slightly expected due to the fact that they are too young to wear masks. But in light of this spread, we are going back to the beginning with our mitigation practices beginning January 3rd.
Eating outdoors in March of 2021
Our COVID Mitigation Approach - OPEN AIR and OUTDOORS:
Beginning January 3rd, all classrooms will follow this schedule as much as possible:
8:00am to 9:45am: drop off and breakfast, indoors
9:45am to 11:30am: Outdoor Learning and Play
11:30am: Lunch (outdoors if possible)
Midday: Nap, indoors
3:15pm to Close: Outdoor Learning and Play
This is the approximate schedule each classroom will follow. Each teacher will adjust based on age appropriateness and weather. We did this during the winter of 2020-2021 with great success!
We do need your help! We need your child to come ready to spend the bulk of the day outside. This means making sure that they have clothing that is warm enough, including back up clothing that is warm enough if they become wet. We have a fantastic supplies list for wet and winter weather!
Learning happens where ever kids are!
Just because we are going back to being outdoors for more, doesn’t mean we are abandoning learning! In fact, our preschool classrooms are doing units that can easily be adapted to be taught outdoors:
Rising Stars - Trees
Busy Bees - Recycling
Love Bugs - Exercise
As you can see from the photos, we had a great time exploring the woods with the Owls Class, last year! And check out this great blog post from Miss LJ: https://www.commongroundchildcare.org/blog-1/2021/2/3/i-met-a-pediatrician-in-the-woods
You can read more about how our classes embrace the outside as in integral part of our learning in some of the linked blog posts below.
Thank you for trusting us to help keep your kids safe!
We will make it through this latest challenge together.
Love,
The CG Team
Newsletter: October 12
Dear Parents,
We hope you had a wonderful three day weekend! We know that our staff really appreciated the day off to recharge! We have a lot of information to share in this newsletter!
COVID
We have two pieces of information to share with you.
First, we have had to quarantine both of our infant classrooms again due to a child testing positive for covid. The child has very mild symptoms of nasal congestion that developed on Friday and persisted through the weekend. They were tested on Monday and it returned a positive result. We are working with the health department on the next steps for those classrooms, but as of this point all students in both classrooms that attended the center last week are at home in quarantine. We have determined that there were no additional contacts within the center.
Miss Adella also tested positive for covid when testing for her return trip from Barbados. She is currently doing well and has no symptoms, but has to quarantine before she can return to the US. We do not currently have a return date for her.
Teachers are getting booster shots! We are very lucky again that the FDA felt that educators should be included for Booster Shots! We are working through making sure that every staff member who wishes to get a booster has the opportunity and time to be able to do so! As of right now, Liz, LJ, Victoria, Susie, Gitti, and HuiHui have all gotten boosted!
Covid Policy Reminder:
If your child becomes symptomatic, you must provide a lab report indicating a negative covid test result or a doctors note indicating that an alternative diagnosis (not covid) has been made with instructions from the physician on when they can return to care. Keep in mind that a doctor may give return to care instructions that are different from our policies that are in place through our state licensing requirements or the local health department. In that case, the center policy will be followed. At this time, then health department has recommended that we not accept the results of at home rapid antigen testing for return to care.
Asymptomatic siblings must remain home until you have provided the lab results or physician’s note for the symptomatic sibling.
Covid symptoms in children are as follows:
Fever or chills
Cough
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
Fatigue and “not acting like themselves”
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea
If you have any questions please check our FAQ, email Liz, or call/text Liz.
OPEN HOUSE SATURDAY MORNING: 10AM-12PM
** Please Park ON THE BLACKTOP ONLY. The gate will be open!!!**
Reminder that we will be having our fall open house this Saturday morning from 10am to 12pm. This is an opportunity to stop by to see your child’s classroom and speak briefly with their teachers! We ask that you:
wear a mask
stay home if you are sick
plan to keep your time with the teacher brief
spend no more than 10 minutes indoors
keep social distance from children not in your own household, especially when indoors
But before the open house…
Friday night is PIZZA NIGHT!
Common Ground is hosting Reston’s Largest Pizza Party Ever!! This is an event that anyone that can participate in. Just have pizza with your family on Friday night share with us that you participated! You can upload photos here and RSVP to our event on Facebook!
Enjoy Pizza Nights? Have some extra delicious pizza kits ready to go in your freezer from our Little Caesar’s Pizza Fundraiser!
Classroom Spotlight:
Our 4s teachers are absolutely incredible at what they do to get their kiddos ready for kindergarten.What’s the main thing they focus on? Self-Motivated Learning. This requires our preschoolers to feel safe, supported, and free to explore their surroundings without fear.
How do they help their preschool students feel comfortable in the classroom? Read all about it HERE
Thank you for being a part of our community! Please make sure you check out our upcoming events below!
