Daycares Trying To Keep Going Despite Coronavirus
March 19, 2020 at 11:40 p.m.
Daycares Trying To Keep Going Despite Coronavirus
By Amanda [email protected]
Of the five biggest childcare centers in Kosciusko County, three remained open as of Thursday.
Julianne Divine, director of Growing Kids Childcare Center, 298 E. CR 200N, Warsaw, said the center is still open and plans to stay open for as long as possible.
“Honestly, I don’t know because it changes so quickly,” Divine said. “It’d have to come down from Indiana or the federal level or either some form of travel advisory or mandatory shut down for us to close, or, obviously, we’re being told by Indiana that if there is a confirmed case of the virus here to call the health department and they’d tell us what to do.”
More than 100 children ages 0-6 typically attend Growing Kids, Divine said. During the past two weeks – when the public schools began closing and major businesses in the area like Zimmer Biomet and DePuy started having employees work from home – there’s been a decrease in attendance of 40%, she said.
As a state-certified childcare center, Growing Kids has to follow certain rules and procedures when it comes to cleaning.
“But on top of that, the teachers are being extra vigilant and sanitizing more often, and we have implemented some new policies here. We are trying to limit as many outside individuals from coming into the center, so we’re trying to just keep it just families and parents only and making those drop-offs and pick-ups as quick as possible, and parents have to use hand sanitizer when they enter the building and they have to wash their hands if they want to go into the child’s classroom,” she said.
Less than a dozen school-aged children, who have younger siblings enrolled at Growing Kids, have now started coming during the day because their school is closed and their parents are working, Divine said.
Cost to send a child to Growing Kids, or to KinderCare, is about $200 a week.
KinderCare, located at 62 Capital Drive, Warsaw, has two buildings on their property with about 80 students in each building. Attempts to reach KinderCare corporate offices for comment were not immediately returned for this story, but the childcare centers are both still open.
Jody Melton, member of the board of directors for New Beginnings Preschool and Child Care, Inc., 706 W. Syracuse St., Milford, said the daycare is still open and doesn’t plan to close.
“As long as we don’t get the instruction that we have to close from the state and the federal government, and as long as we don’t have any positive cases, we are going to continue to stay open,” Melton said.
Roughly 40 children attend New Beginnings and Melton said they’ve only seen a small decrease in attendance the last few weeks.
However, the board did come up with a plan to help parents out that includes waiving tuition through the end of March if the parent keeps their child out of the center.
At Growing Kids and KinderCare, parents are given a week or two of “vacation” days where the parents can choose to not bring the child for the week and not have to pay the tuition. Otherwise, tuition is due regardless if the child attends or not.
“We wouldn’t penalize the parents and they wouldn’t be charged their tuition fee. We wanted to help the community out and try to stay open,” Melton said, adding only three or four students have been taken out and not because the child was sick but because the parents are working from home.
“We clean every single day, and if we’re told we have to shut down, if there’s no travel ban, we will still have employees come in and do deep cleaning,” she said. “We also have parents sanitize their hands and are asking parents to use the sanitizer before and after coming into the building.”
Milestone Early Education Center, 111 S. Harrison St., North Webster, made the decision to close on Tuesday through March 31 due to low numbers of students attending.
Manchester Early Learning Center, 705 N. Market St., North Manchester, which cares for a capacity of 55 children, is also closed through the end of the month.
Missy Ream, bookkeeper and receptionist of MELC, said the center chose to follow what the orders are in Wabash County. Wabash County is currently under an essential-business only travel ban, and all daycares in Wabash County are closed, Ream said. Ream said that some parents who had children enrolled at MELC were upset because they’re still working and also that it’s going to take a hit on the center’s financials.
On Thursday, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb mandated all K-12 public schools close until May 1.
Parkview Health has released information for parents about COVID-19 and helping your child manage.
“Parenting is a highly important and challenging task in relatively ‘normal’ times. During periods of societal crises such as what is being experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic, parenting can be especially taxing. Parents must at the same time practice and model good self-care while teaching and supporting their child in developing their own self-care skills,” a news release states. “Children react, in part, based on what they see from the adults around them. When parents and caregivers deal with the COVID-19 calmly and confidently, they can provide the best support for their children.”
Parkview notes that not all children respond to stress in the same way. Some common changes to watch for in children include: excessive crying or irritation; returning to behaviors they have outgrown (e.g., toileting accidents or bedwetting); excessive worry or sadness; unhealthy eating or sleeping habits; irritability and “acting out” behaviors; poor school performance or avoiding school; difficulty with attention and concentration; avoidance of activities enjoyed in the past; unexplained headaches or body pain; use of alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.
“Take time to talk with your child and answer questions about the COVID-19 outbreak. Reassure your child that they are safe. Let them know it’s OK to be upset and share with them how you cope with stress as a model for learning. Limit your child’s exposure to media coverage of the event. They may misinterpret what they hear and become frightened about something they do not understand. Help your child to have a sense of structure. Be a role model: take breaks, get plenty of sleep, exercise and eat well,” Parkview recommends.
For more information about talking to your child about what is going on, visit www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/coping.html.
Of the five biggest childcare centers in Kosciusko County, three remained open as of Thursday.
Julianne Divine, director of Growing Kids Childcare Center, 298 E. CR 200N, Warsaw, said the center is still open and plans to stay open for as long as possible.
“Honestly, I don’t know because it changes so quickly,” Divine said. “It’d have to come down from Indiana or the federal level or either some form of travel advisory or mandatory shut down for us to close, or, obviously, we’re being told by Indiana that if there is a confirmed case of the virus here to call the health department and they’d tell us what to do.”
More than 100 children ages 0-6 typically attend Growing Kids, Divine said. During the past two weeks – when the public schools began closing and major businesses in the area like Zimmer Biomet and DePuy started having employees work from home – there’s been a decrease in attendance of 40%, she said.
As a state-certified childcare center, Growing Kids has to follow certain rules and procedures when it comes to cleaning.
“But on top of that, the teachers are being extra vigilant and sanitizing more often, and we have implemented some new policies here. We are trying to limit as many outside individuals from coming into the center, so we’re trying to just keep it just families and parents only and making those drop-offs and pick-ups as quick as possible, and parents have to use hand sanitizer when they enter the building and they have to wash their hands if they want to go into the child’s classroom,” she said.
Less than a dozen school-aged children, who have younger siblings enrolled at Growing Kids, have now started coming during the day because their school is closed and their parents are working, Divine said.
Cost to send a child to Growing Kids, or to KinderCare, is about $200 a week.
KinderCare, located at 62 Capital Drive, Warsaw, has two buildings on their property with about 80 students in each building. Attempts to reach KinderCare corporate offices for comment were not immediately returned for this story, but the childcare centers are both still open.
Jody Melton, member of the board of directors for New Beginnings Preschool and Child Care, Inc., 706 W. Syracuse St., Milford, said the daycare is still open and doesn’t plan to close.
“As long as we don’t get the instruction that we have to close from the state and the federal government, and as long as we don’t have any positive cases, we are going to continue to stay open,” Melton said.
Roughly 40 children attend New Beginnings and Melton said they’ve only seen a small decrease in attendance the last few weeks.
However, the board did come up with a plan to help parents out that includes waiving tuition through the end of March if the parent keeps their child out of the center.
At Growing Kids and KinderCare, parents are given a week or two of “vacation” days where the parents can choose to not bring the child for the week and not have to pay the tuition. Otherwise, tuition is due regardless if the child attends or not.
“We wouldn’t penalize the parents and they wouldn’t be charged their tuition fee. We wanted to help the community out and try to stay open,” Melton said, adding only three or four students have been taken out and not because the child was sick but because the parents are working from home.
“We clean every single day, and if we’re told we have to shut down, if there’s no travel ban, we will still have employees come in and do deep cleaning,” she said. “We also have parents sanitize their hands and are asking parents to use the sanitizer before and after coming into the building.”
Milestone Early Education Center, 111 S. Harrison St., North Webster, made the decision to close on Tuesday through March 31 due to low numbers of students attending.
Manchester Early Learning Center, 705 N. Market St., North Manchester, which cares for a capacity of 55 children, is also closed through the end of the month.
Missy Ream, bookkeeper and receptionist of MELC, said the center chose to follow what the orders are in Wabash County. Wabash County is currently under an essential-business only travel ban, and all daycares in Wabash County are closed, Ream said. Ream said that some parents who had children enrolled at MELC were upset because they’re still working and also that it’s going to take a hit on the center’s financials.
On Thursday, Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb mandated all K-12 public schools close until May 1.
Parkview Health has released information for parents about COVID-19 and helping your child manage.
“Parenting is a highly important and challenging task in relatively ‘normal’ times. During periods of societal crises such as what is being experienced with the COVID-19 pandemic, parenting can be especially taxing. Parents must at the same time practice and model good self-care while teaching and supporting their child in developing their own self-care skills,” a news release states. “Children react, in part, based on what they see from the adults around them. When parents and caregivers deal with the COVID-19 calmly and confidently, they can provide the best support for their children.”
Parkview notes that not all children respond to stress in the same way. Some common changes to watch for in children include: excessive crying or irritation; returning to behaviors they have outgrown (e.g., toileting accidents or bedwetting); excessive worry or sadness; unhealthy eating or sleeping habits; irritability and “acting out” behaviors; poor school performance or avoiding school; difficulty with attention and concentration; avoidance of activities enjoyed in the past; unexplained headaches or body pain; use of alcohol, tobacco or other drugs.
“Take time to talk with your child and answer questions about the COVID-19 outbreak. Reassure your child that they are safe. Let them know it’s OK to be upset and share with them how you cope with stress as a model for learning. Limit your child’s exposure to media coverage of the event. They may misinterpret what they hear and become frightened about something they do not understand. Help your child to have a sense of structure. Be a role model: take breaks, get plenty of sleep, exercise and eat well,” Parkview recommends.
For more information about talking to your child about what is going on, visit www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/coping.html.
Have a news tip? Email [email protected] or Call/Text 360-922-3092