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Updated on June 7, 2020
Dear Parents/Guardians:
We hope you are all safe and doing well. The purpose of this memo is to inform you of the new DCF’s Health and Safety Guidelines that will be required as we reopen on June 15th. These guidelines (https://www.nj.gov/dcf/news/Final.CC.Health.and.Safety.Standards.pdf) can also be found on the Department’s website at https://www.nj.gov/dcf/coronavirus_licensedchildcare.html.
Drop Off and Pick Up:
- Do not attempt morning or afternoon conversations in person with your child’s teacher. If you need to communicate, utilize HiMama, email or set up a time for phone calls.
- Parents and approved personnel must wear a mask upon drop off/pickup from centers.
- Please have your child (PreK3 and older) wear their backpacks if possible, to reduce the need for parent/teacher contact.
- All children and staff will have temperature and other COVID-19 symptoms checked prior to entry to the program.
- You will be asked to confirm that your child does not have fever, shortness of breath or cough.
- Do not send your child to school sick as they will be denied entry.
- Do not use pain relievers in the morning to mask symptoms.
- If symptoms develop throughout the day, pickup is immediate and the child will not be permitted back to our facility for two full school days fever and symptom free.
- Hands will be washed with soap and water immediately after they enter the building.
- Mandated by the state, no parent will be permitted entry into the facility while children are present.
- Each center will have new drop off/pick up locations per class.
- (Locations will be shared once finalized.)
- Please allow social distancing to prevent traffic jams and overcrowding of families.
- Students will not be accepted after 9 am.
- Parents are encouraged to call 5 minutes before pickup so we can get your child’s belongings together prior to your arrival.
- Parents will not be required to sign their children in/out, the center’s director will be charged of doing so.
In Building:
- Children will remain in their designated groups the entire day. Therefore, they are not required to wear masks throughout the day.
- Masks are recommended for children 2 and over, if you wish for your child to wear a mask please provide one.
- All staff will be required to wear masks.
- Visitors and tours will not be permitted to enter the center during operating hours, with the exception of emergency or law enforcement personnel in their official capacity, and Department of Children and Families personnel for child protection or child care licensing purposes.
- Infants, toddlers, and providers should have multiple changes of clothes on hand.
- Center shall teach and reinforce washing hands and covering coughs and sneezes among children and staff.
- On a daily basis, surfaces and objects that are touched often will be cleaned and disinfected.
- Staff will enhance our cleaning and sanitation procedures.
Meals:
- Please send disposable food and drinks each day. Treat every day as a field trip!
- Everything must be labeled with the child’s name.
- We will not refill cups or wash food containers/utensils.
- Exceptions made in the infant room. (In infant rooms, bottles must be provided for individual feedings and will need to be labeled with the child’s name and the date.)
- Lunches will not be available to order until further notice.
In Classrooms:
- Bedding will be sent home each day to be washed.
- Extra clothes will remain in children’s backpacks and sent home each day for washing.
- Groups shall not exceed 10 children and interactions between groups will be limited.
- Staff shall be assigned to and remain with one group.
- Spacing of groups within the center will allow for ten feet of separation between groups at all times, including sleeping and play periods.
- Close person to person contact shall be strictly limited.
- Masks will not be worn during naptime.
- The use of shared space (entry ways, restrooms) shall be carefully controlled to ensure that children and staff maintain at least six feet of separation from children or staff from other groups.
- Floor markings will be used.
- Sharing and supplies will be strictly limited.
Outdoor Play:
- Outdoor play shall be scheduled in staggered shifts.
- Field trips and other off-site activities will be prohibited, with the exception of off-site activities within walking distance of the facilities, while social distancing is maintained throughout. Permissible activities include walks to nearby parks.
- Hands will be washed upon returning from outdoor play.
All procedures have been taken from the health and safety standards provided by the department of children and families. For our COVID-19 status updates, safety precautions, and more guideline information, visit: http://www.brightbeginnersnj.com/site/school-updates/
Lastly, if you have not already done so, please let us know if your child is returning or not.
Please work in cooperation with us to make this new transition as smooth as possible. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us.
Thank you for your time.
Stay safe & take care.
Germanico & Zobeida Santana
Updated on May 12, 2020
Dear Parents/Caregivers:
Hope you are all safe and doing well. As of April 16th, we have been able to reopen Bright Beginners Academy 2, 3, and 4 for families of essential workers.
If you are an “essential” employee needing child care, you must register with the Department’s county-based Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Agencies. “Essential” employees who are normally eligible for the Child Care Subsidy Program must enroll in the ECCAP to continue receiving child care services. Your CCR&R will follow-up with you within two business days to gather additional information about you and your needs and help you identify a child care provider. The state is committed to paying for child care in this way through the end of April and will revisit the situation at that time as they get additional information about federal resources to address this critical need regardless of your income.
How to enroll?
- If you meet the definition of an essential employee and have child care needs, register here (https://www.childcarenj.gov/Child-Care-for-COVID-19).
- You will be contacted by one of the state’s Child Care Resource and Referral (https://www.childcarenj.gov/Parents/CCRR) (CCR&R) Agencies within two business days. Your CCR&R will follow up on next steps to gather information about your household and help you identify a participating child care provider.
- If you are income-eligible for the state Child Care Subsidy Program, the CRR&R will use the information you provide to establish that you are an essential employee and help enroll you in the Child Care Subsidy program, which will provide a child care subsidy that will be considered payment in full.
- For all other families, the CCR&R will use the information you provide to establish that you are an essential employee, enroll you in Emergency Child Care Assistance, and to ensure that the center is paid the state portion for April.
This information is directly from the childcarenj.gov website.
Please email Karina (karina@brightbeginnersnj.com) your essential letter and approval letter upon receiving them.
We will reopen to everyone else once Governor Murphy and Office for Licensing find it safe for us to do so. We hope to see you all soon!
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email one of us.
- Germanico: germanico.bba@gmail.com
- Zobeida: zsantana.bba@gmail.com
- Karina: karina@brightbeginnersnj.com
Sincerely,
Germanico & Zobeida Santana
Updated on April 28, 2020
Dear Parents/Caregivers:
Hope you are all safe and doing well. As of April 16th, we have been able to reopen Bright Beginners Academy 2, 3, and 4 for families of essential workers.
If you are an “essential” employee needing child care, you must register with the Department’s county-based Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Agencies. “Essential” employees who are normally eligible for the Child Care Subsidy Program must enroll in the ECCAP to continue receiving child care services. Your CCR&R will follow-up with you within two business days to gather additional information about you and your needs and help you identify a child care provider.
Who is considered “Essential” for Emergency Child Care Assistance?
- Health care workers, including staff working in health care facilities and in community-based services including home health and behavioral health;
- Law enforcement personnel, fire and emergency services personnel, and correctional facility staff;
- Individuals employed at emergency child care centers operating on or after April 1, 2020;
- Staff working for entities that provide essential social services, including, but not limited to, group home and shelter staff;
- Essential government employees who are unable to work from home, including child protection services workers, child welfare workers, foster care workers, unemployment compensation processing staff, and public health employees; and,
- Certain critical workers, as defined by the Commissioner of DCF, at essential retail businesses, as defined in Executive Order No. 107 (2020) and subsequent Administrative Orders, which includes, for example, grocery store and gas station employees.
How long will the state pay for child care?
The state is committed to paying for child care in this way through the end of April and will revisit the situation at that time as they get additional information about federal resources to address this critical need.
How to enroll?
- If you meet the definition of an essential employee and have child care needs, register here.
- You will be contacted by one of the state’s Child Care Resource and Referral (CCR&R) Agencies within two business days. Your CCR&R will follow up on next steps to gather information about your household and help you identify a participating child care provider.
- If you are income-eligible for the state Child Care Subsidy Program, the CRR&R will use the information you provide to establish that you are an essential employee and help enroll you in the Child Care Subsidy program, which will provide a child care subsidy that will be considered payment in full.
- For all other families, the CCR&R will use the information you provide to establish that you are an essential employee, enroll you in Emergency Child Care Assistance, and to ensure that the center is paid the state portion for April.
This information is directly from the childcarenj.gov website.
We will reopen to everyone else once Governor Murphy and Office for Licensing find it safe for us to do so. We hope to see you all soon!
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email one of us.
- Germanico: germanico.bba@gmail.com
- Zobeida: zsantana.bba@gmail.com
- Karina: karina@brightbeginnersnj.com
Sincerely,
Germanico & Zobeida Santana
Updated on April 7, 2020
Dear Parents/Caregivers:
I hope this email finds you well. We got some information from our state inspector that you all are going to like. Bright Beginners Academy 2,3 and 4 are now approved to re-open and provide service to families with essential jobs. BBA3 and 4 will reopen tomorrow and BBA 2 will reopen on Monday, April 13. They sent us a link to provide the information to the centers’ families. The families with essential jobs must use the link to register by Today, April 7 if you would like to receive COVID-19 Essential Personnel Child Care Assistance regardless of their income. If you do not register, you cannot receive this assistance. Also, if any families have registered yesterday, there is a need to register again.
Anyone who is registering today will need to use the link provided below. Yesterday’s link is no longer valid.Please use today’s link: https://www.childcarenj.gov/Child-Care-for-COVID-19 . You will need to choose your county.
With our reopening, we will continue with our safety precautions, such as:
- All centers have been completely sanitized.
- Parents are not allowed in the children’s classrooms and must drop off /pick up their children from the vestibule.
- Hand sanitizers are available at the front door of the centers.
- Children and staff are washing their hands constantly with soap and water.
- Door handles are being sprayed with bleach and water as parents come in and out.
- Temperatures will be taken of children and staff upon arrival.
- Outside guests, i.e. therapists or zumba/gym instructors, will not be permitted within the school until further notice.
Please do not bring your child to our center when they are sick. Your child should stay home if they have any of the following conditions:
- Elevated oral temperature of 101.5 degrees Fahrenheit
- Cold Symptoms
- Acute diarrhea
- Episodes of acute vomiting
- Severe coughing
- Difficult or rapid breathing
- Skin rashes in conjunction with fever or behavior changes
- Diagnosed with a communicable disease or illness
If you are an essential personnel in need of child care in order to work, we will need the following documentation that you are an essential worker emailed to karina@brightbeginnersnj.com as well as the schedule you will be following during this time. The schedule options are:
- Full days or Half Days (8-12pm): 3, 4, or 5 days
If you will have your child attend, we will need the following daily:
- All snacks and drinks labeled.
- Pizza will not be ordered on Fridays.
- Extra change of clothes should be in a ziplock bag.
As we receive updates from Office for Licensing and the Health Department, we will be sending out notices to all of you.
Sincerely,
Germanico & Zobeida Santana
Updated on March 29, 2020
Dear Parents/Caregivers:
We hope you all are doing well. We were waiting to see if any additional updates came out over the weekend before sending out our updated notice.
In our last notice, we stated that our tenative closure dates were going to be from March 20th – March 27th pending any additional updates about the COVID-19 virus. During this past week’s press conference, Governor Murphy ordered all daycare centers to close by April 1st unless they soley serve children of essential workers. Since we do not solely serve children of essential workers, to open all centers for two days and then close wouldn’t be idle for anyone so we will need to remain close until they inform us we can reopen.
As we receive updates from Office for Licensing and the Health Department, we will be sending out notices to all of you. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email one of us.
- Germanico: germanico.bba@gmail.com
- Zobeida: zsantana.bba@gmail.com
- Karina: karina@brightbeginnersnj.com
Sincerely,
Germanico & Zobeida Santana
Updated on March 18, 2020
Dear Parents/Caregivers:
Although we hoped we would not have to make this drastic decision, the COVID-19 virus has hit close to home in the towns and surrounding towns in which we operate.With that being said, we’ve weighed all the options and feel it is best to close all Bright Beginners Academy centers as of this Friday. It saddens us to have to make this decision, but we feel that at this moment it is best in order to protect the health and safety of our families and staff. Our tenative closure dates will be from March 20th – March 27th pending any updates about the COVID-19 virus.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to email one of us.
- Germanico: germanico.bba@gmail.com
- Zobeida: zsantana.bba@gmail.com
- Karina: karina@brightbeginnersnj.com
Sincerely,
Germanico & Zobeida Santana
Updated on March 16, 2020
Dear Parents/Caregivers:
After speaking with our town health department, our state office for licensing inspector, and the Governor’s office they have clearly told us that daycares are not required to close. Therefore we will be OPEN!!
We have taken the following precautions:
- All centers have been completely sanitized.
- All outdoor activities have been suspended.
- Parents are not allowed in the children’s classrooms and must drop off /pick up their children at the front door.
- Hand sanitizers are available at the front door of the centers.
- Children and staff are washing their hands constantly with soap and water.
- Door handles are being sprayed with bleach and water as parents come in and out.
- Outside guests, i.e. therapists or zumba/gym instructors, will not be permitted within the school until further notice.
Due to the New Jersey’s new state curfew, our new hours of operations will be from
6:30 am – 5:30 pm as of tomorrow Tuesday, March 17th. This will stay in effect until the state curfew is removed. Please pick up your children by 5:30pm. After 5:30 pm, pickups will be considered late resulting in a $1/minute fee.
If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to speak to our directors, supervisors, or one of us.
Sincerely,
Germanico & Zobeida Santana
