COVID-19 & Virtual Learning

Health and Safety Plan for South Hills dated 7/17/2020, Amended 8/6/20

8/8/2020

Health and Safety Plan for South Hills dated 7/17/2020, Amended 8/6/20
File Size:	271 kb
File Type:	pdf

Parents and Staff,

South Hills Child Development Center Inc. has added two sentences to our Health and Safety Plan, dated July 17, 2020.

On page 8, the following sentence has been added to the Social Distancing section:

During afternoon PreK Enrichment classes for our full day 4 year old and older students, children will be mixed with a maximum of four children from another pod for one/half day per week (11:30am-5:30pm).

We have also added the following to the list of items to bring for your child’s use (See page 16):

An old cloth adult t-shirt (for use as a paint shirt) clearly labeled with your child's first and last name.

Thank you for reviewing this important amendment to the Health and Safety Plan dated July 17, 2020. You can download a copy of the updated plan using the link above.

When you sign the Acknowledgment Documentation (Included in the Health and Safety Plan), you indicate that you have reviewed these amendments.

Thank you,

♡ Ms Connie

Health and Safety Plan for South Hills Child Development Center Inc. dated July 17, 2020.

7/19/2020

Health and Safety Plan for South Hills dtd 7.17.2020
File Size:	270 kb
File Type:	pdf

July 17, 2020

Parents,

Above is the official Health and Safety Plan for South Hills Child Development Center Inc
dated July 17, 2020. All current and incoming parents/ guardians should review this plan carefully and complete the required documents included within the PDF to submit upon their return to the school.

This plan dated July 17, 2020 will be uploaded to all South Hills’ families
via the parents’ Drop Box folders, emailed to all current families, distributed as a paper copy in
each child’s Take Home Folder, and posted on the home page of the South Hills website
www.shills.info.

This plan supersedes the Reopening Plan dated May 17, 2020 which addressed the May
26, 2020 reopening of South Hills following our mandated closure.

IMPORTANT: SOUTH HILLS OFFICIAL REOPENING PLAN

5/17/2020

South Hills Reopening Plan 5-17
File Size:	207 kb
File Type:	pdf

May 17, 2020
Parents,

South Hills Child Development Center Inc. is set to re-open on Tuesday, May 26.

Our official Reopening Plan dated May 17, 2020 is downloadable ABOVE as a PDF. Please read this document carefully!

The Reopening Plan dated May 17, 2020 highlights our safety procedures during Phase 2 of the Pennsylvania reopening plan. Amendments to this plan will be released as Covid-19 developments are announced in the coming weeks and months.

On Wednesday or Thursday of this week, you will be contacted by phone to discuss how you choose to proceed with enrollment. New students will receive details regarding orientation.

If you are currently enrolled in the Spring 2020 term (ending FRIDAY, JUNE 12), your options are as follows:

Return in person beginning Tuesday, May 26 until the term concludes on Friday, June 12.
Continue with Zoom Academy through Friday, June 12. If you choose this option, you understand that only one teacher will be able to continue our entire virtual learning initiative (as all other teachers will return to the school) and it will most likely not be your child’s current teacher. Kindergarteners do not have the option for Zoom Academy after May 22.
Withdraw. Deposits will be returned and refunds for pre-paid tuition will be handled on a case-by-case basis.

If you are registered for Full Day Preschool, Kindergarten, or School-Age beginning Summer 2020 (starting MONDAY, JUNE 15), your options are as follows:

Attend in person classes beginning Monday, June 15.
Attend online classes via Zoom Academy beginning Monday, June 15. If you choose this option, you understand that only one teacher will be able to continue our entire virtual learning initiative (as all other teachers will return to the school) and it will most likely not be your child’s classroom teacher. Kindergarteners do not have the option for Zoom Academy. We are brainstorming potential School-Age program ideas via Zoom, if there is an interest.
Withdraw. Deposits will be refunded.

IMPORTANT: If you choose to withdraw your child for the summer term, you are also forfeiting your enrollment for the remainder of the 2020-2021 school year (Not applicable to School-Age students). If you hope to eventually return to us, we can keep your child on our waiting list. However, we must fill any vacant spots and cannot guarantee that an opening will be available or which classroom will be available for your child.

Additional updates below:

Zoom Academy ends Friday, May 29 for the half day preschool program.

We had hoped to extend the school year for two weeks for our half day students, but that will not be possible now; for closure we would LOVE to have you call and make an appointment to meet with your child’s teacher briefly in our foyer for some parting words.

Starting Monday, May 18, teachers will be working in the school and the foyer will be open approximately 9:00-4:30pm. Mothers, please stop by the foyer to pick up your Mother’s Day plant that your child grew if you haven’t already—please hurry as your plants won’t survive long!

It has been an unprecedented school year, and the lack of graduation/closure is so sad for all of us here at South Hills. We enjoyed our Parent Conferences with you last week SO MUCH! We are proud that we could continue with your child via Zoom Academy, and are grateful for your financial support during this time. There are no words of gratitude that will suffice…you have blessed all of us here on the staff of South Hills…keep in touch with us, please,if you are leaving, so we can hear of your children’s grand accomplishments!

ღ Ms Connie

SOUTH HILLS ZOOM ACADEMY - WEEK SEVEN UPDATES!

5/8/2020

May 8, 2020
Parents,

Updates this week are as follows:

MEETING IDS + PASSWORDS ARE CHANGING!

Starting Monday, May 11, ALL classrooms have been designated a new Classroom ID and password! You will find these on your weekly class schedule along with your conference room credentials! Old classroom IDs and passwords will no longer be applicable to South Hills.

CONFERENCES

Next week, Zoom Academy will still operate as usual, but parents will also be attending conferences. I am leading conferences with Erica in the Green Room but will also sit in on all conferences for children with IEPs. I look forward to meeting with you! With the exception of the Green Room, all assessments are in your Dropbox handout folder now; I will add the Green Room assessments by Sunday a.m. and am actively working to complete those now.
Conferences have strict time limitations and are NOT intended as a time to discuss our time line to reopen the building. Conferences are intended as a time to discuss your child’s achievements. Teachers and I will refrain from answering any COVID-related questions during conferences.
CONFERENCE ROOMS WILL BE ACCESSIBLE VIA A DESIGNATED ZOOM MEETING ID AND PASSWORD. PLEASE REFER TO YOUR MAY 11 CLASS SCHEDULE (LOCATED IN YOUR CLASSROOM DROPBOX) FOR YOUR CONFERENCE ROOM ID AND PASSWORD.
In order to ensure that conferences remain private, teachers will need to “admit” parents into the conference prior to joining. After you type in your conference room credentials, you will be placed in a temporary “waiting room” until the conference before you has ended.

RE-OPENING

Our May 26 re-open date is still pending. The staff and I have much training to complete and additional guidelines continue to be given to me. I will be sending you the details of our plan to reopen once it is firmly established. Until then, I appreciate your patience.
Based on your feedback, I am also working to offer the option to continue with Zoom Academy for those children whose families do not want to return prior to June 12, the final day of the spring term.
I am receiving over 50 emails daily and am far behind in my responses. I do apologize, but I am meeting constantly with my attorney, accountant, licensing representatives, insurance company agents and so many others, while trying to take all the required COVID training and attempting to develop our potential re-opening plan. As a result, while I do read all of your emails, I am simply unable to reply to everyone at this time.
However, I do appreciate your continued communication with us. In order to ensure that your feedback and concerns are documented and addressed moving forward, please reach out with questions and concerns to Beth (HERE) first!

INVOICING

Your final invoice for the spring term was sent out on May 1. This invoice contains your tuition for the entire month of May and the first two weeks of June (through June 12). Please refer to your invoice for a full break-out of your weekly tuition and the dates covered.
Summer term begins on June 15. You will receive your summer invoice closer to that date.

MOTHER’S DAY GIFT

Remember to stop by the South Hills foyer on Saturday (tomorrow) between 9-3:00pm to retrieve your Mother’s Day gift from your child (One at a time please!)! For those who do not celebrate this holiday, you can still locate your child’s spring creation tomorrow in the foyer and enjoy it even though it is SNOWING as I write this! Please do not go beyond the foyer.

Happy Mother’s Day!

♥ Ms Connie

SOUTH HILLS ZOOM ACADEMY - WEEK SIX UPDATES!

5/1/2020

May 1, 2020
Parents,

Here are your weekly COVID notices and updates:

RE-OPENING

There has been a change in plans for reopening South Hills. As Governor Wolf has approved reopening on May 8, I had hoped to reopen on the 11th.

While there will be no regulation changes made by DHS or PDE regarding the reopening of Early Childhood programs, there is a myriad of suggested federal and state guidance regarding safety, social distancing, and cleaning as it pertains to caring for young children. On May 6th, I am scheduled to attend a training regarding procedures to safely reopen South Hills. Given the short timeframe, I don’t feel confident that I will be able to create our final plan, train the entire staff, and be fully prepared to implement the plan and reopen on May 8 or 11.

Therefore, opening on Tuesday, May 26 seems more sensible at the moment. Half day, Full day, and Kindergarten students (now called School Age students as Summer Camp begins) will all be encouraged to attend that week. The Red/Orange am classes will have their school year extended to May 29. Unfortunately, they will only have two days with us, but we hope to make it meaningful and have some closure to the year!

I will continue to keep you updated regarding this reopening date, and you will be well informed of any practices, requirements, routines, etc.

As of now, key dates for May are as follows:

Through Friday, May 22: South Hills Zoom Academy continues!
Week of May 11: Teachers will host parent conferences for all via Zoom (classes will continue to be offered online as usual for the children). We will provide Meeting IDs and Passwords for conference rooms next week!
Week of May 18: Staff and I will be completing training, working out our routines, organizing our classrooms (that have looked rather ‘ghostly’ these past weeks - the classroom calendars are ‘stuck’ on March 16...), and creating our plans for live classes again. Zoom Academy will still be offered during this final week.
Monday, May 25: CLOSED (As scheduled) for Memorial Day
Week of May 26: We reopen!! Oh Happy Day!!
TBD: GRADUATION DETAILS WILL BE SENT AT A LATER DATE

YOUR COMMENTS & CONCERNS

I am aware that many parents feel that May is too early to reopen. Many others indicate they feel this is too late. I highly value and appreciate all of your thoughts and concerns. I know I cannot please everyone; I can only make my decision based on the government directives and organizations such as Department of Public Health, CDC, AAOP, ECELS, PA KEYs and other Early Childhood programs. Your continued support is important to me and I will continue to actively monitor the situation to ensure we re-open with your children and our staff’s health as my top priority.

TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK

Teacher Appreciation Week is next week--May 4-8. Never have my staff deserved appreciation more than now! Please feel free to send a note of gratitude to the teachers through our school address—3808 Caughey Rd, Erie PA 16506 and I will be sure they receive it. Any and all kind words, especially accompanied with your child’s precious art work, is always the best gift...

JAY AND MONA KANG ART SHOW

Your child/ren worked with such imagination to create stunning works of art for the Jay and Mona Kang Art Show to benefit the Barber National Institute. Sadly, the show was canceled due to Covid-19 but will now take place as an online show. I will soon send notification regarding the dates and website for this show—patrons will be able to view artwork online for purchase. Curbside pickup will be arranged at the Barber Institute! When the show is online, please check to view the wonderful artwork your children contributed and perhaps make a purchase yourself!

MAY INVOICES

Dylan will send May invoices today. For some of you, this is your last full month with us. Please be sure to check for any past invoices not paid in full. You can email Dylan directly (or reply directly to your May invoice) to request a final statement for the Spring term.

To confirm: During the time of our closure (beginning March 17) we respectfully ask that you pay what you can, if you can, to keep South Hills from depleting our limited funds. We know times are hard; we are your South Hills Family and it is your children who come first here—please keep them learning and growing during this time, regardless of payment!

I am SO blessed to have made it successfully through these many weeks and appreciate your continued kindness and generosity!

Blessings and Gratitude for all of your support,

♡ Connie

SOUTH HILLS ZOOM ACADEMY - WEEK FIVE UPDATES!

4/25/2020

April 24, 2020
Parents,

It has been another successful week of South Hills Zoom Academy and my staff and I are thrilled to see so many children attending! Your continued emails and kind support are a daily boost for us and we are so happy to connect with your children through virtual learning.

As an update, the Governor’s recent plan includes the potential for Child Care Centers to reopen on May 8, but we have some initial problems to work out:

Half day programs may not be included in the reopening plan and may need to continue online. We’ll keep you informed of any updates.
It also appears that the Kindergarten students may be able to return as School Age students, but are not permitted to have any in-person Kindergarten lessons, as schools are closed! Again, guidelines are still unclear and I am seeking interpretation from our licensing representative.
To complicate the situation even further, the reopening of child care centers depends on the school meeting all the “employee and building standards”, which are currently being created. These standards will highlight sanitization and health practices that we will be required to implement. Once those are received, I will see how quickly we are able to put them in place, but cannot guarantee it will be by May 8.

We’ve already begun taking initiatives to ensure the school is properly sanitized:

I have purchased a non-contact thermometer, as anyone entering the building must have their temperature documented.
I have ordered Germ Guardian filters to use in each classroom after hours to effectively kill all bacteria and viruses from the air with UV light. Germ Guardian filters will soon be installed on all the furnaces as well.
I ordered a basket to hang from the front doors to hold Clorox wipes for the security key pad (They must be out of reach of children).

We are still planning on parent conferences the week of May 11 unless the school does reopen, so please add your conference time to your calendar. I hope to have solidified plans as next week progresses.

As requested during music class, please take photos or scan your children’s art work and send to me at ckerrvogt@shills.info (scanning recommended)! I will post as much as I can on Instagram (@southhillsinc).

Hug your children from me and all of the South Hills’ teachers!

Blessings,
♥ Connie

IMPORTANT: SOUTH HILLS ZOOM ACADEMY - WEEK FOUR UPDATES!

4/18/2020

April 18, 2020

Parents,

Thank you for your continued support of South Hills Zoom Academy! Your positive response has been overwhelming and we are pleased that this “pick and choose” option of live and recorded sessions is working well for you. Your emails of support and encouragement make our day!

Governor Wolf has now begun the process of reopening our state and County Executive Kathy Dahlkemper has also supported that Erie County be among the regions to reopen. Once the county/state reaches Phase 2 of the reopening plan, South Hills will be able to reopen. We are HOPING this occurs around mid May, as each phase is approximately two weeks in length. Many states are already moving to Phase 1 after preliminary criteria have been met.

I am being proactive and hopeful; I met with my staff late yesterday afternoon to share my plan with them. I would now like to share it with you:

Assessments will now be sent to your Dropbox Folder on May 8 rather than May 15. Parent Conferences will be scheduled for the week of May 11 for BOTH full and half day students and Kindergarten students via Zoom. Details will be sent to you prior to Conference week, as we will have secure conference rooms created for each of you. You will soon receive your conference date and time from Mary via email.
With conferences out of the way, if the school reopens on May 18, that means all children could return and we will extend the half day school year to May 28 and 29 (These dates were previously reserved for Parent Conferences).
Half-day graduation would take place on the final two days of the term, May 28 and 29.
Full day students and Kindergarteners would be able to have their graduation as scheduled on June 11 and 12.
The Waldameer picnic may need to be rescheduled; we will let you know as soon as we receive updates.
When we reopen, PDE is requiring our Kindergarten program to be categorized as a School Age Program since PA schools are formally closed. More details on this later…
Follow us on our new Instagram account for photos of the school (including photos of our garden) to share with your children! Find us @southhillsinc

I will keep you posted as information changes frequently. My staff and I would be overjoyed to return to South Hills within a month and see your children and resume our work with them! I continue to say prayers for all daily! Be safe; be well...

Blessings,

❤️Connie

SOUTH HILLS ZOOM ACADEMY - WEEK 3 UPDATES

4/10/2020

April 10, 2020

Parents,

Week 2 of South Hills Zoom Academy concluded on Thursday as we are closed today for Good Friday as scheduled. Thank you to everyone who is writing with words of encouragement and support! I am attempting to return emails to all, but feel I may be missing someone—if so it is unintentional! The staff and I value each and every word we receive from you!

UPDATE 1: BY NOW YOU ARE AWARE THAT GOVERNOR WOLF HAS CLOSED ALL PA SCHOOLS FOR THE REST OF THE SCHOOL YEAR. South Hills is included in that mandate.

We are fully prepared to continue our Zoom lessons, and hope you will stay with us, regardless of ability to pay. I fully intend to stay open as long as possible, and look forward to the end of this crisis.

Times like this can be stressful for children as well as adults. Children derive much comfort, security, independence and confidence from structure and routine. They feel most comfortable and feel most secure when they engage in the natural “rhythm” of their day, and confidence grows as they learn and follow specific routines, then gradually learn to cope with small changes in the routine, especially when told ahead of time to prepare and adjust. Gradually they learn to handle increasing numbers of changes, as their confidence grows. For that reason, keeping your child connected to the routine of school, as well as the vital connections of the people they have spent their days with—their teachers and friends!—is especially important. We will still be completing our year end assessments to the best of our ability and are planning a Zoom Graduation and End of the Year Ceremony! We continue to hope the summer term will mean a reopening of our doors and beautiful playground. We are working hard to prepare for the children’s joyful return!!

Even if you cannot financially support us, please continue to have your child participate for all the above reasons! You are part of the South Hills Family, and money cannot be a consideration over your child’s continuation with us!

UPDATE 2: Many of you are requesting individual sessions with your children as we are doing with Kindergarten, and would like to see the PreK enrichment program included. We have had many discussions about this but sadly cannot find a way for it to be possible. The Kindergarten class has only 13 students and two teachers, which makes individual sessions possible in place of recorded ones. Their requirements are also much more rigorous as they are in the elementary school portion of our program. The preschool teachers have 20-24 students in a weeks time. You can see the dilemma.

The teachers are contracted to work 47.5 hours per week. By the time they complete their planning, three recorded lessons each day, plus live sessions and our daily/weekly meetings and trainings, they have all gone beyond that. Plus, they still must complete their annual required coursework and a variety of documentations. We tried to find ways to incorporate the enrichment program, but to date the best we have brainstormed is that I will try to add as much as possible to my music classes. We will add some additional resources when possible.

I continue to pray for us all, and count the overwhelming blessings of having such a talented, dedicated and enthusiastic group of teachers to carry out the vision of South Hills, as well as the amazing families to support and encourage us! We miss your children more than you can possibly image—they are the highlight of each day for us!

If you celebrate Passover/Easter, I wish you a most blessed holiday.

Blessings and Gratitude to all,

❤ Connie

SOUTH HILLS ZOOM ACADEMY - WEEK TWO UPDATES!

4/4/2020

April 4, 2020

Parents,

Welcome to week two of South Hills Zoom Academy! Thank you for your continued support and feedback as we move into our second week of online learning. My staff and I are reviewing each of your suggestions and concerns as we continue adjusting Zoom Academy to best meet your needs and schedules.

4/4 Update 1: Based on your initial feedback and our own concerns, we have added an extra measure of privacy and security to our virtual learning. Beginning immediately, passwords have been added to ALL South Hills online classrooms. Your classroom IDs for live group sessions remain unchanged. Please refer to the classroom IDs and passwords listed on your child's weekly class schedule to access your LIVE sessions this week. Class schedules are located within your Zoom Dropbox folder and will be available by tomorrow (Sunday, April 5). We ask that you please do not share these passwords with anyone!

Steps to accessing your classrooms will not change: After entering your classroom ID and child’s name, select “Join”. A prompt will appear asking for the meeting password before continuing into the classroom.

4/4 Update 2: Siblings and family members within your household are always invited to LIVE group music and Spanish/Sign Language sessions!

As always, if you are having difficultly in accessing your Zoom folder on Dropbox, please contact Beth via the South Hills website HERE.

I cannot fully express how much we enjoyed reconnecting with your children this week! Seeing them online and sharing in conversation with them and their classmates was an ENORMOUS boost for us all! We miss your children SO MUCH and look forward to seeing them this week!

Blessings,

♡ Ms Connie

IMPORTANT - WELCOME TO SOUTH HILLS ZOOM ACADEMY!

3/27/2020

March 27, 2020

Parents,

I am pleased to share the official details of South Hills Zoom Academy. Virtual classes will begin this Monday, March 30 at 9:00am. Zoom Academy consists of THREE components: (1) LIVE classes, (2) DAILY pre-recorded lessons, and (3) WEEKLY pre-recorded educational experiences!

In order to access our virtual learning, you’ll need to do the following:

Download the Zoom app to your cell phone, iPad, laptop, or desktop computer.
Navigate to your child’s Classroom Handout folder on Dropbox for your full class schedule for the coming week.

WEEKLY CLASS SCHEDULES & DROPBOX

Within your child’s Dropbox Handout folder, please select the Zoom folder, which will contain a sub-folder for the week (i.e. Week of March 30 - April 3). Within this folder, select the PDF document titled “YOUR ROOM - Class Schedule (3/30-4/3)” for a complete schedule of your LIVE classes for the week, as well as links to your child’s DAILY and WEEKLY pre-recorded lessons (7-10 minutes each).

Teachers will be uploading the FIRST week’s class schedule to Dropbox by tomorrow, Saturday, March 28! Please continue monitoring your child’s Dropbox folder throughout the weekend in preparation for Monday’s classes.

If you are having difficult in accessing your Zoom folder on Dropbox, please contact Beth via the South Hills website HERE (or email her directly at bszelinski@shills.info) to ensure that you receive a copy of your weekly class schedule.

ACCESSING YOUR LIVE CLASSROOM ON ZOOM

Our objective is to connect your child with his/her teachers as well as classmates in a few live sessions each day. Daily sessions with your child's class will be offered beginning at 9:00am each day. Music classes with me, Ms Connie, and Spanish/ Sign Language classes with Ms Pam will also be available in the mornings and afternoons. All live sessions are available for you to “pick and choose” times that fit best into your family’s schedule.

In order to access any of the LIVE sessions, simply open the Zoom app on your device, select “Join a Meeting”, and type in the applicable Meeting/ Classroom ID listed at the top of your class schedule. Be sure to write in your child’s name before selecting “Join”. NOTE: A Zoom account is not necessary to join a LIVE session.

I recommend joining your first LIVE class 10-15 minutes early in order to test your audio and video. You can also access a test meeting on the Zoom website HERE in order to test your audio previous to joining your first meeting. If you’re having any issues with Zoom, be sure to review Zoom’s support page HERE for assistance.

PRE-RECORDED ZOOM CLASSES

Links to all pre-recorded Zoom sessions are included in your weekly class schedule. Pre-recorded sessions are available for your child to view at your convenience. These lessons are 7-10 minutes long and cover critical subjects such as Literacy, Math, and Handwriting. Please watch ALL applicable lessons linked for a given day in order to meet required State Standards and South Hills’ Curriculum.

In addition, weekly prerecorded lessons from Ms Mary and Ms Lisa are available for all students to participate at their convenience! Ms Mary will incorporate nature and seasonal studies with STREAM while children will have the chance to visit with Ms. Lisa on her farm, Live and Learn Farm, and engage students in nature based science lessons.

SUPPLIES

Your weekly class schedule will list any specific materials that will be needed for the week’s lessons (LIVE and PRE-RECORDED). Materials will only include items that we are certain you already have in your home. For example, on Monday and Tuesday, I am requesting a small stuffed animal for each child to use for the LIVE music session. Always have crayons, markers, pencils, scissors, and paper nearby if your child is participating in any lesson.

In addition to materials around your home, please print any activities located in the week’s “Supplies” folder on Dropbox (Located within your child’s weekly Zoom folder).

KINDERGARTEN - INDIVIDUAL SESSIONS

For Kindergarten students ONLY: LIVE INDIVIDUAL sessions with BOTH Ms Robin and Ms Pam will take place DAILY. Your child will attend one 20 minute session with either Ms Robin or one 20 minute session with Ms Pam EACH day during the week! You’ll be receiving an email tomorrow (SATURDAY) with simple instructions on how to sign your child up for these individual sessions.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I GREATLY appreciate so many parents taking the time to share their thoughts, consideration, needs and suggestions—we listened and considered carefully, and hope you will be proud of what we have to offer, and that your children will enjoy reconnecting with us, and with each other. We want your child to continue moving forward and meet or exceed the required standards for Kindergarten as noted in our required assessment.

I personally am incredibly proud of this hardworking, committed and dedicated group of South Hills’ teachers, who express continually how we all miss our children, our families, our classrooms, our playground, our colleagues. To work together on Zoom Academy has given us hope, inspiration, and a place to put our energies toward offering your child and you our very best in a difficult situation. Please be patient with us this initial week, take our errors lightly, have a sense of humor with us, and we look forward to reconnecting with your child on Monday!

If you have any questions or would like to provide feedback, please reach out to Beth or myself via email or the South Hills contact page HERE.

♡ Ms. Connie