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Did You Know?
The Yellow Springs Community Children's Center continues to adapt!
An Update from Executive Director Malissa Doster
The Yellow Springs Community Children's Center (YSCCC) is up and running . . . and retooled! Since June 1st, students and staff have been back to a routine, though altered, and during the many weeks of shutdown, staff adaptations to pandemic requirements was a full-on scramble.
We modified child care rules, implemented new policies and procedures, purchased cleaning supplies, reached out to families about their anticipated start date, reviewed large amounts of state and health department updates on rules and policies with staff, and ensured enough returning staff to care for our students. Busy we have been.
Included in the mix are new best practice policies, such as well and temperature checks for all upon arrival, face mask requirements for staff and parents, students brought to meet parents in the lobby, mandatory handwashing for anyone entering or leaving the facility, and vigorous and frequent sanitizing and cleaning.
Our mandate to operate at half-capacity in each classroom for social distancing required a shift from 1 teacher for every 18 school-age students, to 1 teacher for every 9. With only 47 students currently enrolled, our waitlist is extensive.
Without a doubt our staff have adapted well. While the many state-mandated changes complicate procedures, the lower teacher-student ratio has allowed us more capacity to adjust to these shifts, such as utilizing a variety of communication tools to connect families and staff who are unable to meet in person.
But challenges remain. The anticipation of another reduction of teacher-student ratios in the coming months based on the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the Miami Valley will further reduce enrollment income and continue to affect our fundraising capacity for needed building improvements. Yet akin to the core of our mission—providing an environment responsive to student's developmental level and abilities—staff and students continue to respond to the changing environment inside and outside the YSCCC.
THANK YOU to our community members for donations and masks for teachers and students!
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