COVID-19 Response

Upon arrival, all children and staff are screened to ensure that they are not showing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19, no one in the household is showing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19, and a temperature screening is performed. 

Per Texas Child Care Regulation requirements, in accordance with Governor Abbott's order, only staff, children, and local authorities are permitted to enter the building after passing a health screening. Due to this, we have implemented a new software, called Kid Reports, sharing information and pictures with each family in regards to their child's day. Each family can also utilize this app to communicate directly with their child's teacher

As a child care center, handwashing was already a big part of our day. Now,  daily reminders are given to the children to ensure not only that handwashing is occurring at proper times, but that is occurring per the proper procedures. 

When do children wash their hands:

· When entering the building;

· Before eating;

· Before playing in a water table;

· After toileting or before and after having a diaper changed;

· After outdoor activities;

· After playing in sand;

· After feeding or touching animals; and

· Any other time that the caregiver has reason to believe the child has come in contact with substances that could be harmful to the child.

When do employees wash their hands:

· Before eating or handling food or medication;

· Before feeding a child;

· After arriving at the child-care center;

· Before and after diapering a child;

· After assisting a child with toileting;

· After personal toileting;

· After handling or cleaning body fluids, such as after wiping noses, mouths, or bottoms, and tending sores;

· After handling or feeding animals;

· After outdoor activities;

· After handling raw food products;

· After eating or drinking; and

· After using any cleaners or toxic chemicals.

· All staff are performing cleaning duties above the normal that include cleaning objects/surfaces not ordinarily cleaned daily such as doorknobs, light switches, classroom sink handles, and cubbies.

· All staff are performing our regular daily cleaning of tables ( a minimum of 5 times per day), chairs (a minimum of 5 times per day), countertops (a minimum of three times per day), cots (after each use), shelves (a minimum of three times per day), toys (a minimum of three times per day and between each child’s use), and bathrooms (a minimum of three times per day).

· At the end of each night, all staff are cleaning each room as if a positive case of COVID-19 was present by wiping down and sanitizing all areas.

All staff, parents, and children over the age of 10 years are required to wear a mask at all times while on the premises unless this would affect your physical or mental health. Children and staff are permitted to remove their mask when outside on the playground and during meal times.

Upon arrival, and periodically throughout the day, child and staff members temperatures are taken.

 All staff have received over ten hours of specialized training on COVID-19, including the trainings provided by Texas A&M Agrilife Extension and Governor Abbott’s office 

Children are socially distanced at tables, at naptime, at centers, and when lining up to go outside or come inside. Children are given visual cues to assist them with social distancing such as: markers on the floor where their chair goes, markers on the carpet for circle time, and colored squares in centers to show where they can sit. No more than one child is permitted per center. 

We have elected to follow Governor Abbott's smaller ratios for child care centers, per the "Open Texas Checklist for Child Care Centers", to the best of our ability. 

Consistent care has always been a priority here at Parent's Choice, but now we limit how many teachers are utilized for lunch breaks to minimize the risk of exposure. 

This has been one of our toughest policies to implement as it goes against everything we previously taught children, but we implement it to protect them.

No child may share items with another child, not toys, not markers, not any item. All children have their own personal box of supplies with their name that is stored in their cubby to ensure no cross-contamination. All children are assigned centers and when done in the center, ALL items from the shelf to the toys to the colored square must be thoroughly cleaned, disinfected, and sanitized using our four step process before another child may utilize that area. Each classroom also has a "yuck bucket" to put items into until they can be properly cleaned.

Due to a special task force that Governor Abbott created for Texas Child Care Centers, we have ample access to all supplies needed such as gloves, sanitizers, soap, etc.

No child may share items with another child, not toys, not markers, not any item. All children have their own personal box of supplies with their name that is stored in their cubby to ensure no cross-contamination. All children are assigned centers and when done in the center, ALL items from the shelf to the toys to the colored square must be thoroughly cleaned, disinfected, and sanitized using our four step process before another child may utilize that area. Each classroom also has a "yuck bucket" to put items into until they can be properly cleaned.

We have two designated isolation rooms in the event that a child becomes ill while in our care. That child and ALL other siblings/children in the household present at our school would be placed into the isolation room until picked up from the facility.

How can you help as a parent/guardian?

 If your child or anyone in the household is showing signs or symptoms of COVID-19, please have everyone in the household stay home until the following criteria is met:

-In the case of a child who was diagnosed with COVID-19, the individual may return to school when all three of the following criteria are met: at least 3 days (72 hours) have passed since recovery (resolution of fever without the use of fever-reducing medications); and the individual has improvement in respiratory symptoms (e.g. cough, shortness of breath); and at least 14 days have passed since symptoms first appeared; or

-In the case of a child who has symptoms that could be COVID-19 and does not get evaluated by a medical professional or tested for COVID-19, the individual is assumed to have COVID-19, and the individual may not return to school until the individual has completed the same three-step criteria listed above; or

-If the child has symptoms that could be COVID-19 and wants to return to school before completing the above self-isolation period, the parent/guardian must obtain a medical professional’s note clearing the individual for return based on an alternative diagnosis.

-Signs or symptoms of COVID-19 include, but are not limited to: 

Ø Feeling feverish or having a fever of 100.0 degrees Fahrenheit or higher

Ø Dry cough

Ø Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Ø Chills

Ø Repeated shaking with chills

Ø Muscle pain

Ø Headache

Ø Sore Throat

Ø Loss of taste or smell

Ø Diarrhea

If your child is showing signs or symptoms while in our care, they will be immediately removed from their classroom as well as any other members of the household present and put into our isolation room with a staff member. Parents/guardians will have 30 minutes to have their child as well as all other children in the household picked up from our facility and the above mentioned exclusion criteria must be followed.