Next week, we are opening our childcare services to our school families. Governor Bill Lee has consistently encouraged childcare providers to offer their services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Initially, we at Berean decided to only make our childcare services available to preschoolers whose parents are what state and local government officials considered to be “essential workers.” Now that the state’s safe at home directive is expiring at the end of the week, we have decided to expand our childcare services to include elementary students.

Below, I have listed several important bullet points concerning how our childcare services will operate next week.

• The plan for childcare for the week of May 4 is for preschoolers through 5th graders.
• Childcare will be available from 7 AM until 6 PM.
• For that week, there will be no childcare charges for K-5th grade students.
• Regular tuition charges will be applied for preschoolers attending that week’s childcare.
• Parents of preschoolers who choose not to receive our childcare services this week will have their tuition adjusted, so they are not paying tuition for the week.
• We plan to use multiple classrooms and have a maximum of 10 students per childcare worker per classroom, but we cannot make guarantees of constant six-foot social distancing.
• Childcare workers will be supplied with face masks. Children may wear face masks, if the masks are provided by parents. 
• Children and childcare workers will have their forehead temperatures taken upon arrival and departure. Anyone who registers a fever will not be permitted to be part of the program.
• Snacks will be provided for those receiving childcare services, but lunches will not be provided. Parents must send sack lunches with their children each day.
• Each day, there will be academic sessions scheduled to allow students to work on their distance learning assignments. Childcare workers may assist to a degree, but they will not be able to provide extensive academic assistance to students.
• Students may bring their own tech devices, and we will give students some access to our computer lab for academic purposes. The amount of time available in the computer lab will be affected by the number of children present.
• Due to reduced childcare worker-to-child ratios, availability is on a first-come, first-serve basis. Registration for next week must be submitted by Thursday, April 30, but a high volume of registrations could result in an earlier cut off day.

To register your child for next week’s childcare services, complete and submit the online registration form.

Our motivation for expanding our childcare services next week is to serve families who need this assistance. If you are able to secure a more private environment for your child, I highly recommend that you do so.