COVID-19 Response — July 3, 2020

Links To All COVID-19 Response Announcements

April 22, 2020 – Response to COVID-19 Q & A”

May 5, 2020 – Reopening Health & Safety Regulations

May 19, 2020 – COVID-19 Response

May 22, 2020 – Financial Adjustments to Assist Families

Dear Families,

We hope this finds you well and enjoying your summer so far. You are all on our minds and in our hearts every day.  We hope everyone stays safe and well.

We are providing you with some more information about what our “new normal” will look like when we start the new school year in September. We are still working on several of the details of our new safety protocols, and we are taking guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the CT Office of Early Childhood (OEC) and the state and local departments of health, which is ever evolving.  We will continue to share information as plans are confirmed.

NEW ENROLLMENT OPTIONS

In an effort to provide greater flexibility to families in light of ongoing COVID uncertainties, First Church Preschool will offer three enrollment options to families for the 2020-21 school year. Families may choose:

  1. The Full Year Option at current program rates.  Our full school year will run from September 1, 2020 through June 11, 2021.
  2. A Fall Semester-Only Option, with half current full year program rates plus a 10% tuition premium.  Enrolling for the Fall Semester will allow your child to attend from September 1st through January 15, 2021.
  3. A Spring Semester-Only Option, with half the current full year program rates plus a 10% tuition premium.  Enrolling for the Spring Semester will allow your child to attend from January 18, 2021 through June 11, 2021.

Semester-Only Option Specifics:

  • If you decide to keep your child enrolled for the full school year and you have already made tuition payments, we will apply those payments accordingly and let you know the timing and amount of your future payments.
  • If you decide to change your child’s enrollment from the full school year to a semester only option and you have already made tuition payments, we will apply those payments accordingly and let you know whether you have a balance and determine the timing and amount of your future payments.
  • If you decide to withdraw from the program entirely, any payments you have made to date will be returned, less a $250 administrative fee per child. 
  • If you select the Fall Semester-Only Option and later on decide that you would like to continue your child’s enrollment into the Spring Semester, there may not be a spot available for your child either in the same program or with the same class or teachers.  

We have made some adjustments to our school calendar to allow for a more equitable number of school days within each designated semester.  We will be starting earlier than originally planned – on September 1st – and we have reduced the amount of days we had originally planned to be closed.

For more details about tuition fees associated with these new semester options, you can access our Payment Policies.

DISTANCE LEARNING

We are preparing to offer a hybrid of in-person and distance learning as needed to support physical distancing and quarantining to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 virus.  We will provide distance learning in the following contexts:

  • Zoom office hours – for individual and small group instruction and conferencing with families.
  • Curriculum packets of materials and activities that children can do at home on their family’s schedule.
  • Weekly emailed newsletters that support and expand upon the activities provided in the curriculum packets.
  • Zoom class meetings will be conducted in the event that an entire class cohort or the school cannot meet in person.

When Distance Learning will be implemented:

In the event that First Church Preschool must close the building pursuant to CT State and local authorities.

If an individual child must be excluded from attending school for more than one week of regular scheduled class time due to illness or exposure to the virus, his or her teacher will continue to reach out via distance learning.

In the event that an entire classroom cohort must be excluded due to illness or exposure to the virus, the teachers will revert to distance learning to maintain continuity with the established classroom curriculum.

We plan to kick-off the new school year on September 1st.  Since we cannot have our usual large-group Visiting Day and Orientation & Welcome Coffee events, we plan to start with some introductory Zoom meetings between teachers, children, and families, as well as scheduled times for visiting the classroom to meet in-person.  More details about those plans will be available as the time draws nearer.  In the event that the building cannot be reopened on September 1st, we will reconsider our plans and inform you accordingly.