Covid Response

Please Note: Guidelines are ever changing and we will update this page as we get new specifications.

~Thank You

Nursery Class

The Nursery Class will be in a hybrid mode to begin the 20/21 School Year. The Nursery Class will meet on Tuesday Mornings from 8:30 to 11:30 am. Students will be sent home with an activity packet for them to do on Thursdays at home. Class enrollment has been cut to eight children to accommodate for Social Distancing within the classroom.

Pre-K Class

The Pre-K class will be in a hybrid mode to begin the 20/21 School Year. the class will meet on Mondays and Friday Mornings from 9 am to 1 pm. Students will be sent home on Mondays with an activity packet for them to do on Wednesdays at home. Class enrollment has been cut to eight children to accommodate for Social Distancing within the classroom.

3 & 4 Year-Old Mixed Class

Merri-Loo is announcing the start of the a new Program for the 20/21 School Year! The 3 & 4 year old Mixed Class will be in a hybrid mode to begin the 20/21 School Year. The Mixed Class will meet on Thursday Mornings from 8:30 to 11:30 am. Students will be sent home with an activity packet for them to do on Tuesdays at home. Class enrollment has been cut to eight children to accommodate for Social Distancing within the classroom.

Program Adjustments

Drop-Off

Only children, teachers and parent helpers will be allowed into the classroom.
Only 2 parents at a time will be allowed in the front hallway
All adults must wear a mask including parents dropping off. Children will be allowed to wear masks, but not required to, except while singing. Please send your child in with a mask in a plastic bag to wear during singing
activities.
A Staff Member will take the temperature of each child, staff member and parent helper at arrival. If anyone has a temperature of 100.4 or more, they will not be allowed in. Parents and teachers will need to answer questions such as:

~ Have you been in contact with anyone who has a fever or symptoms of COVID since you have last been here?

~ Is your child experiencing any symptoms of COVID 19 such as fever, shortness of breath, cough, etc.?

Parent will need to initial that their responses are correct.
There will be a clean pen cup and a dirty pen cup for parents to use.
We will do our best to use every other cubby in the front hall so that children’s belongings are somewhat separated.
Children, teachers, and parent helpers must wash their hands with soap and water upon arrival.

Free Play

We will rotate table toys to avoid cross contamination and in order to provide the 48-hour time period needed for any virus particles to die. For example, If we use a toy on Monday, we don’t use it again until Thursday.
Toys used on Tuesday won’t be used again until Friday.
Tables will only have 2-3 chairs per table. They will be placed 6 feet apart.
Dress up clothes and pretend food and kitchen items will be cleared out of the playhouse. It will be used as a space for one to two children to play using washable toys.
Hand sanitizer will be placed on every table. Children will be instructed to use it before they use the items on that table.
The library will be closed for the time being.

Circle Time

We will be removing the rug from circle area
There will be vinyl stickers on the wood floor, 3 feet apart for the children to sit on.
We will bring wipes to circle time so that the pointer can be wiped down when switched from child to child.
When dancing, children will be asked to dance on shapes. No hand holding or dancing together
We will all wear masks while we are singing. We will do this at the end of the day so that children can be dismissed with their masks on.

Snack/Lunch

Children will not be allowed to pour their own juice; an adult will pour juice after wiping down the bottle.
We will no longer have a snack helper carrying snack baskets in from the kitchen.
Please do not send in individual snacks or juices. It is easier for use to pour snacks out of a bag or box onto each child’s napkin after we have wiped down the box and the juice bottle. That way we will not need to touch the food packaging that each child will be eating from.
Please send in lunch items in packaging that your child can open and close easily by themselves. We are trying to limit the number of hands that touch your child’s lunch.

Activity Time

We will rotate table toys the same way as free play time
Each child will have a container with their own tools such as pencils, glue sticks, markers, colored pencils, scissors, crayons. etc. We will ask parents to supply the
items to be put in a box that we will provide. We suggest that parents purchase 2 of everything so that you will have what you need to work on the at home activities.
When painting, the brushes and trays will be wiped down between children.
Collage materials will be placed on each child’s individual tray. They will not be reaching into a bowl of items. Anything that is left on their tray when they are done will be discarded.

Star of the Week

Parents will be asked to send photos and weekend activities electronically to their child’s teacher. We will print them and bring them in.
No book, or bag will go home to be returned to school.
We will look for a soft plastic animal that can be quickly washed with antibacterial wipes. This will be sent home and cleaned as soon as it is returned.

Pick-Up

Only 2 parents will be allowed in the front hall at any given time. If you arrive and there are already two people in the hall, please wait outside keeping 6 feet between each other.
Staff will send out 2 children at a time into the front hall.

Illness and Exposure Guidelines

While we cannot predict each and every situation that may arise regarding illness and exposure, the following is a guide of imagined situations and our response.

Please, understand that these guidelines may change as more is learned about the virus, how it is transmitted, and how it effects different individuals.

If a student, teacher or parent helper is exhibiting any symptoms of COVID 19, they must stay home, and quarantine for 14 days and get tested. Even if the test
results are negative, they must complete the 14-day quarantine. These symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore throat, cough or shortness of breath.
If a student, teacher or parent helper has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID 19, they must stay home and quarantine for 14
days starting on the day of contact and they should get tested. Even if the test results are negative, they will need to complete the 14-day quarantine. If they have additional contact, the time clock on the 14 days starts again. Close contact is defined as within 6 feet for more than 15 minutes.
Anyone who has traveled:

Internationally (outside the U.S.), cruise ship, or Domestically (within the U.S.) with the exception of NH, VT, and ME, via public transportation such as a bus, plane, train, etc. Must quarantine for 14 days before they can return to the school grounds.

If the person who typically drops your child off at school has been in contact with someone who has a positive diagnosis of COVID-19 or is presumed to have COVID-19, they should quarantine for 14 days, and cannot be on school grounds for 14 days. Please have another person drop off.
If a student, teacher or parent helper tests positive for COVID 19, the school will need to be closed for 14 days. The person infected can only return if they test
negative, or if they have been fever-free without medication for 3 full days, AND it has been 10 days since their symptoms began. This is assuming that the school is able to open again because the 14 days are up.