Natural Start Preschool Covid-19 Reopening Plan

 In order to help you make your decision, you will find some general information below on our COVID-19 reopening plan. We anticipate that there will be some changes to this plan as the school year progresses and King County moves from its current Phase 2 to subsequent phases of the Washington Safe Start Plan. For now, however, we expect that the following guidelines and procedures will remain in place at least through December 2020.
 

1. Health and Safety Measures: 

• Masks/cloth face coverings will be mandatory for all teachers/staff. 
• Masks/cloth face coverings will be mandatory for all students. If wearing a mask/cloth face covering has been contraindicated for a student for medical or behavioral health reasons, the family will be asked to provide preschool staff with documentation to that effect from their child’s medical or behavioral health professional. 
• Parents and guardians will be asked to wear a mask/cloth face covering during drop-off and pick-up, and/or while on the grounds of the South Bellevue Community Center.  
• Daily health screenings (temperature check, screening questions, sign-in log) will take place each morning at drop-off.  
• Regular handwashing and hand sanitizing routines will be built into our daily schedule.  
• Class sizes will be in accordance with county and state guidelines.  
• Students from different classes will stay together and will not interact with students from other classes. 
• Each class will have separate drop-off and pick-up areas and staggered drop-off and pick-up      times. 
• Parents/guardians must adhere to the daily drop-off and pick-up procedures and times (see      “Preschool Schedule” below). 
• Parents/guardians may not congregate in the parking lot or in other outdoor areas on the South Bellevue Community Center grounds. As per City of Bellevue regulations,      parents/guardians must leave the SBCC grounds immediately after dropping off or picking up their student.  
• Any in-person meetings with preschool teachers or staff may be scheduled in advance and will take place after programming is finished for the day. Preschool staff will also be available to check in by phone, email, or video chat.  
• Daily preschool activities will be structured to encourage physical distancing.  
• Physical distancing will be observed during snack time. As always, students will not be allowed to share food or drink.  
• All preschool materials and facilities will be cleaned and disinfected after each use.  
• Sharing class supplies/materials will be limited or avoided.  
• All preschool field trips, special group events, and family gatherings will be suspended.  

2. Program Modifications: 

• In order to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, the entirety of our daily 3-hour preschool time will be spent outdoors, regardless of the weather. The only exception is during potentially dangerous weather conditions (e.g. thunderstorms, high winds, extreme temperatures, or high levels of airborne pollutants such as smoke), in which case preschool will be canceled.  
• Preschool students and staff will use outdoor porta-potties (Honey Buckets) and handwashing stations. As always, your child MUST be potty trained and able to attend to ALL bathroom needs INDEPENDENTLY.  
• In the event that a student has a potty accident, a parent or guardian will be called and      asked to pick up their child. The student may return to programming after changing clothes and cleaning up. Preschool families will NOT be able to use community center restrooms for clean-up if their child has had a potty accident.  
• Preschool materials that cannot be easily cleaned and disinfected will be removed from the      curriculum. These include stuffed animals, rugs, soft or porous learning manipulatives,      play dough, certain materials used for sensory play (rice, beans, play sand, play foam), etc.  
• Families MUST send their child to preschool each day with outerwear that is appropriate for the weather. This will include a rain jacket and rain pants that are waterproof and breathable. Further details and specific recommendations regarding outerwear will be provided to families once they have confirmed their child’s start date.  
• Additional fees may be collected to cover program expenses related to COVID-19 health and safety measures.

3. Preschool Schedule: 

• Preschool will be open on weekday mornings for 3 hours. School breaks, holidays, inclement weather cancellations, and other days off will continue to be scheduled in accordance with the Bellevue School District’s academic calendar. 
• There will be NO Explorers Lunch Bunch (extra hour of preschool) during Phase 2 and 3 of the      Washington Safe Start Plan.  
• In order to maintain physical distancing requirements, drop-off and pick-up times will be      staggered: 
  1. One-third of our students will be dropped off at 9:00am and picked up at 12:00pm. 
  2. One-third of our students will be dropped off at 9:05am and picked up at 12:05pm. 
  3. One-third of our students will be dropped off at 9:10am and picked up at 12:10pm.  

 If you have questions or would like more information on any of the guidelines listed above, please feel free to email NSPdirector@outloook.com or text me (Stephanie Hoener, Preschool Director) on my cell: 425-785-4140. We can also schedule a time to talk by phone if that would be more convenient for you.