This page was updated December 1, 2021.

We as a preschool are very, very blessed with the extraordinary support of the Peace Church staff and diaconate. We are also blessed with the loyalty, creativity, and love of our Preschool staff. Almost all our teachers were able (and eager!) to return this year, allowing us to offer every class without having to combine age groups.

We have always made the health and safety of our staff and students a priority, but this year will require even more effort from us and from you. Outlined below are some of the changes and procedures we are implementing this year to help us mitigate exposure to COVID.

WHAT PEACE CHURCH IS DOING

  • Peace Church has installed electrostatic sanitizers in all the HVAC systems to cleanse the circulated air in our building.
  • Peace Church is regulating building usage to allow ample time between groups for air to circulate limiting the number of people allowed in the building, limiting the amount of time one group can stay in the building.

WHAT PEACE PRESCHOOL IS DOING

    • Teachers will wear masks and/or clear face shields in the classroom
    • Increased efforts in disinfecting commonly used surfaces (done by staff when children are not present). The product we will use is https://benefect.com/pdf/decon-30-product-sheet-usa.pdf   (it is effective, natural, safe, and smells very nice)
    • Purchased UV Light wands for disinfection of soft surfaces, toys, and costumes (done by staff after preschool dismisses)
    • Change snack procedures for Doves and Cubs so that each student brings his/her own snack each day
    • Maintain individualized use of school supplies such as play-dough, markers, glue, scissors
    • Maintain “cohorts” and one-way paths or staggered hallway use throughout the morning so that classes do not mingle, per AAP recommendation
    • Use of Child Care Strong NC Public Health Tool Kit for COVID Exposure/Return to class recommendations (note that we are not a regulated day care so many of the requirement in this publication do not apply to us) https://files.nc.gov/covid/documents/childcare/NC-Interim-Guidance-for-Child-Care-Settings.pdf
    • Will make us of fresh air even more than usual (weather permitting): windows open, snacks and music outside, etc.
    • We are deferring Lunch Bunch, in-house and off-campus field trips, and school-wide events until they can be safely offered
    • Carpool drop-off and pick-up to minimize number of people in the building

WHAT YOU CAN DO

    • Stay informed – read our emails, signs, and texts
    • Sign the COVID Awareness Agreement[1] that is part of our Enrollment Kit
    • Keep us informed about family travel and illness
    • Keep your family from unnecessary exposure; follow state and county guidelines for public health and safety
    • Stay flexible and patient as our policies and procedures may need to change
    • Be prepared for school or class closings due to illness or staff outages
    • Pray for no hurricanes or blizzards 🙂 
    • Pray for the school, the students and families, and your teachers. Pray for protection, safety, and joy

QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE

  1. Why aren’t students required to wear masks?
    • One of the primary benefits of a preschool is learning social skills and cues. Learning to recognize and understand facial expressions is an essential skill for a preschooler to develop. Preschoolers are also developing emerging linguistic skills. Seeing their teachers’ mouths make the sounds of our language is an important part of learning. In the classroom, teachers will wear clear face shields when practical, cloth masks when necessary, or a combination of both.
    • Please note that students may wear masks if your family chooses, but teachers will not be expected to  keep up with students’ masks.

This policy may change in the future, but we hope not.

  1. 2. What About Possible School Closure and Tuition?

Our tuition policy is to divide the entire school year’s tuition into nine equal installments. Some months naturally have more school days than others, but the tuition amount collected does not change from month to month. 

If you have to quarantine your child for an extended time or a series of times because of COVID exposure or illness, you still will be responsible for tuition payments (we still have to pay staff).

If we are forced to close for an extended time as happened in the spring of 2020, we will assess the implications for tuition once the full extent of closings are known. This might mean making adjustments at the end of the academic year. Our long-standing policy of allowing a certain number of cancelled days before make-up days are attempted will stay in place. We appreciate your understanding, patience, and flexibility as we all sort through the unknowns together.

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[1] This is a simple document intended to remind everyone that “we are all in this together” — that we are all watching for the same symptoms and agreeable to following CDC guidelines for quarantining, etc.