Purpose
In response to Covid-19 and heightened safety measures, area public schools have shifted to full or part time virtual learning for the 2020-2021 school year. Stewartstown United Methodist Church, is committed to supporting children and families affected by these mandates by providing supervised learning opportunities, internet access, and a caring staff in a safe, welcoming environment.
The Program
Several small groups of up to 6 children will be welcomed by caring adults during the school week, Monday-Friday 8:30am-3:30pm. Students can choose between the full 5-day program or fewer days per week. As much as possible they will be grouped with others in their grade.
In addition to the supported learning sessions, there will be opportunities for children to have a lunch time, 2 snack breaks, a time for recreation, and occasional educational enrichment opportunities (e.g. music, creative projects, educational videos, etc.)
In order to be certain that our children are safe, all staff, paid and volunteer, will be carefully screened and will operate under the Safe Sanctuary policies of the United Methodist Church.
Details
Signing up
· You can enroll your children in the program by filling out the forms on this site. As part of the signup, we will need health information, emergency contact information and any allergies.
Everyday essentials:
· To keep everybody safe all students will be required to wear masks except while eating and at recreation. Clear plastic face shields will be provided. All children will have their temperature checked when they arrive.
· Every day students will need to bring a list of their assignments to be worked on and a list of any scheduled time(s) when they need to be online for synchronous learning led by their regular school teacher.
· All food for students (2 snacks and a lunch every day) is to be brought from home by the student.
· Bring any computers or other electronic devices needed to complete school work. The church will provide a socially distanced learning area, power strips, and internet access.
· Students will be expected to practice good sanitation practices – washing hands carefully, using hand sanitizer, and maintaining safe social distance. In addition, our staff will clean hard surfaces with disinfecting wipes or sprays, open windows for air flow, and ensure the cleanliness of the rooms.
· Recreation will be outside if at all possible, so students should dress accordingly.
· Because of the small group size, staff may be able to assist children who are having difficulty understanding concepts, completing assignments, or focusing on the material to be mastered as time allows.
· Where possible, safe socialization opportunities will be given so children develop friendships.
Expectations
. Families will communicate the distance learning curriculum for their public or private school system to our staff. Technical assistance will be given to each child as well as educational assistance.
· Any equipment needed for virtual learning such as laptops, headphones, notebooks, pencils, crayons, etc. will be provided by each family.
. Each participating family will monitor their child’s health as well as the family’s health and report any sickness to the learning facilitators. Masks will be worn by children during indoor learning time, but may be taken off outside during recreation time and during snack and lunch times as per state guidelines.Learning stations will be set up to allow socially-distanced spacing. For the safety of all, children who become ill will be sent home immediately.· Children are assigned to a specific group for the entire time of virtual learning. Switching between groups is not permitted due to health concerns. Once slots are full, children may be placed on a waiting list or an additional group may be formed. If parents prefer, siblings may be placed together in one group.
· As this is a school-based setting and not childcare, the discipline policy will reflect more of a school approach. Children unwilling or unable to follow the discipline policy on a repeated basis will be asked to leave the program.
· The school calendar used for holidays and other designated days off will be determined by the staff and communicated to the families.
· To ensure that children are released only to authorized adults, the person dropping off in the morning will be given a pickup code. To give permission to another adult to pick up your child, simply give them the code.
Calendar And Tuition Schedule
· Families may choose to sign up for a full 5-day week or fewer days per week. Enrollment will be by semester, with payment due for each month by the last day of the previous month. Tuition rate is $25 per day per student (same cost whether partial or full day). Some partial scholarship funds may become available if grant funding is obtained.