COVID-19 Precautions

Vaccination

In order to maintain employment at Discovery Children’s Center, all staff and teachers must meet criteria for full vaccination set by the CDC. We are currently at a 100% vaccination rate for all staff and teachers.

We are at an 78% vaccination rate for all parents.

Sanitization

We have increased the number of times toys and items are sanitized throughout the day to help eliminate the chance of any respiratory droplets on surfaces.

Teachers also disinfect surfaces most commonly touched by the children before and after the activity. All toys, art supplies, books, etc are stored in plastic bins with lids to reduce respiratory droplets landing on individual pieces. Toys that are played with are run through the sanitizer machine at the end of each day as well as all outdoor toys are washed off of dirt and debris then are cleaned with a mixture of bleach water.

Contact Tracing

In order to appropriately identify anyone, especially children, who was exposed to someone with COVID-19, contact tracing must occur in a timely manner. It is important to notify Debbie, our Executive Director, so we can begin quarantining individuals and working with the St. Louis Public Health Department. Our board president, Crystal Wolf, is a certified Contact Tracer through Johns Hopkins University.

Physical Distancing/Cohorting

In order to contain any spread of COVID-19 we adhere to physical distancing between children of different classrooms.

Screening Process

A screening process has been implemented to identify individuals who have symptoms of COVID-19 as well as those who have come into close contact with someone known to have COVID-19.

Before entering the building, families and staff will be asked a series of questions and will have their temperature checked using an infra-red thermometer. Once cleared, the child will be given a star stamp to reward good behavior and to ensure the classroom teacher that the child has passed screening. Your child will be escorted into their classroom by a staff member and will wash their hands when they enter. We are kindly asking all parents to not enter the building. This helps reduce the total number of individuals in the center and helps the center adhere to the 6 feet social distancing guidelines.

Masking

In order to reduce community transmission of COVID-19, all staff members are required to wear a mask at all times in the building.

Parents are also required to wear a mask during drop off and pick up.

Hand Hygiene

Children and staff will wash their hands once entering their classroom and also periodically throughout the day. Hand sanitizer is also readily available in each classroom for staff to quickly disinfect their hands. Staff are also discouraged from touching their face to reduce transmission from their hands.

For more information regarding CDC recommendations and early childcare centers…