Child care centers preparing to open Monday with changes

May 31--SUMMIT Early Learning daycare center director Alyssa Heggenstaller will greet preschoolers Monday with a mask covering most of her face and a recent photograph of her without a mask clipped to her shirt.

"It's going to be totally different. We're going to have to project ourselves much more to be understood," said Heggenstaller, who oversees 20 employees at the Selinsgrove facility, one of three SUMMIT children centers opening Monday in Snyder and Union counties after being closed for more than two months due to COVID-19.

A similar scenario will play out as children arrive at daycare and summer camp programs run by the YMCA in Sunbury and Milton and at Danville Child Development Center's (DCDC) two sites on Wall Street and Bloom Road.

At the YMCA, all staff and children 3 years and older will wear masks inside the buildings, prompting some parents to keep children at home, said CEO Bonnie McDowell.

Though masks are not mandated by the state, McDowell said the YMCA is following the Center for Disease Control guidelines recommending face coverings to curb the spread of coronavirus.

"If the children can't tolerate it, we're not going to struggle with them but we are hoping they've gotten used to wearing masks," she said.

All children and staff at each of the facilities in the Valley will have their temperatures taken before being allowed to enter and children will be dropped off and picked up outside the door to a waiting staff member. No parent or guardian will be allowed inside the buildings.

YMCA staff informed parents of the changes in personal phone calls, McDowell said.

DCDC staff created videos explaining to parents and children what to expect, including a demonstration of the new child drop-off and pick-up procedure and a staff member putting on a mask, said Center Executive Director Diana Verbeck.

At the SUMMIT daycare center in Selinsgrove, education coach Betty Miller wrote a brief, kid-friendly pamphlet explaining the changes that would be taking place at the centers and included photographs of each staff member with and without masks to ease their return.

Only half of the children who usually attend will be allowed to return -- with preference given to parents working in frontline and essential jobs -- and no infants will be permitted yet since "you can't socially distance from them," Heggensatller said.

Classes will not mix and outdoor recreation will be done one-class at a time to reduce contact, she said.

Both the YMCA and Danville centers operate summer programs for school-aged children up to age 12. This summer's programs will be considerably different, with fewer students and no field trips allowed during the health crisis.

The one benefit to the closure of the YMCA fitness center and indoor basketball court, said McDowell, is that the children will have access to several areas of the building as well as outdoor recreation spaces.

"It's going to be different and staff will have to be creative," she said.

Alternate programs designed for "camping in-house" have been developed by Danville Center staff, and Verbeck said the students are also pretty creative.

"I have no doubt a lot of excellent things are being planned," she said, conceding that "it is going to be a little weird."

For one, the Danville staff will wear long-sleeve button-down shirts to allow them to console children without skin contact.

"Kids need touches, they've been through enough," said Verbeck.

Heggenstaller agreed and said hugs will be permitted at SUMMIT.

"It's such a crucial part of what a child needs, we'll just be careful about breathing directly on each other. We're going to try and make it as normal for them as possible," she said, acknowledging that it will be a necessary challenge for all. "It's important for kiddos to be in an early learning facility with other kids."

Getting back to a relatively normal routine is the goal at all the centers.

"We're just going to take it slow," said SUMMIT preschool teacher Michelle Yoder.

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