The four-story brick building, known as PS / IS 128 in Queens, New York, has been reused in what is known as a “Regional Enrichment Center,” one of several child care centers across the state that has remained open. during the coronavirus pandemic for children of parents who are unable to work from home and are considered “essential” workers.
Starting with just 16 children when the coronavirus forced schools to close in March, PS / 1S 128 now welcomes more than 130 children a day, from 3-year-olds to 10th graders. And despite operating at the height of the Covid-19 outbreaks in New York, not a single case of coronavirus has been reported in the REC.
But those like Ramage, who runs childcare centers on the ground, say taking the REC model nationwide could be more challenging than it seems at first glance.
Temperature controls, masks and a giant sea turtle
CNN was invited to tour PS / IS 128 in person and witnessed the security measures in action.
As soon as the children enter the front door, a line of staff greets them with thermometers on their foreheads to check for a fever as they say goodbye to their parents.
Parents who were interviewed by CNN described the center as a “gift from heaven” and a “lifeguard.”
Isabela Borowski, whose 5-year-old daughter is starting kindergarten in September, said she was comfortable with the REC after walking around the facility with an employee and seeing all the masks and hand washing.
If a child does not show up on site with their own face covering, a mask is now provided, and each student and staff member must wear one throughout the building.
Students are also reminded of how to keep their distance by looking at the measurements of a giant sea turtle on the first-floor wall, and use aerial kisses, elbow hits, and outstretched arms like planes to walk through the hallways.
“We have a couple of teachers hugging the air, so the other day I walked into the classroom and there is a girl sitting in the back, just looking at me with this big smile and leaving like this,” Ramage recalled, arms crossed. around your body. She said the girl was full of enthusiasm for her new trick. “We are trying to keep it fun.”
Classrooms are limited to just nine children and are sprayed with an industrial cleaning solution at least once a day.
If a child becomes ill during the day, which Ramage says has happened only twice, there are “isolation rooms” and parents are called to pick him up. But so far, not a single case of Covid-19 has been reported.
The YMCA, which has also served tens of thousands of children across the country during the pandemic, has used a similar model.
Taking advantage of their existing space, local YMCAs have been able to turn gyms into childcare facilities and have found creative ways to keep children involved in safety protocols, such as using a manual seal that needs to be removed to teach proper hygiene. .
But security comes at a high cost, making all of these improved measures and protocols unrealistic for some school districts to implement on a large scale.
“Many of our YMCAs operate with a very small margin in traditional times anyway,” explained Heidi Brasher, senior director of the YMCA of the United States. So now, with increasing sanitation needs, the group is seeking donors, community members, and local governments for help with the financial burden.
And even with cost issues aside, there are many practical challenges. Unlike regular schools, child care centers like the PS / IS 128 operate differently with no established arrival times for students in the morning, essentially offering “continuous admission” throughout the day once parents They authorize the approval process with the New York Department of Education, and new families emerge weekly.
“It is not like a school where you know you are going to have so many children in the classroom, these are the names of the children,” said Ramage, explaining that each new family requires “incorporation” and potentially changing the schedule “because once we pass to nine students, now we have to open a new class. I have to get new teachers here. I have to teach them all the new protocols. “
And even the temperature control system would be too demanding without staggered arrivals, Ramage said.
“Imagine the line that would be outside the door, trying to keep them apart and controlling their temperatures,” he added. “So while the safety protocols are impressive, the cleaning products and just the procedures are a model, it’s not the same as the school.”
CNN’s Meridith Edwards contributed to this report.
.
