CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- One of the West Side’s largest daycare and after-school learning centers reopens next week, but on Tuesday staff will continue getting training on new COVID-19-prevention methods.
"We’re honored that, about 50 percent of our families are signed up and ready to come back on the 22nd," said Kenny Riley, director of the Out-of-School-Time programs for the Carole Robertson Center for Learning.
Center facilities in Little Village and North Lawndale will open for between 120 to 150 children each next week. The children will range from infants to 15-years old. Sixteen and 17-year olds will have online options.
On Tuesday, Riley said, teachers are learning about organizing their classrooms in this pandemic-era. For instance, "Choice Centers where kids used to be able to maybe be in groups of four and five working on an activity will now be in groups of two."
Riley said classrooms will be limited to no more than 10 students each. He said those classrooms will look a lot smaller for the kids, as far as the number of friends they’ll have. They’ll be in the classroom now with 9 other friends and two staff members. The entire group will be called a "pod."
There’ll be hand-washing before entering and leaving classrooms and staggered scheduling of groups moving through hallways at any one time.
Riley said students and teachers will all wear masks, too.
"We miss the kids. We miss the families," he said.
Riley said that during the three months off, the Carole Robertson Center for Learning has been maintaining contact with families through Zoom, as well as providing help to those who need it by providing things like diapers and food.
He said, even with all the COVID-prevention practices, the goal is still to maintain high quality learning.
When parents and children arrive at the facilities next week, they'll notice hand-washing stations outside. Parents who want to say "good-bye" to their children inside the buildings' lobbies will be asked COVID-19 screening questions and then, they and their children's temperatures will be taken before they're allowed inside.
Since children have been away from the CRCL for three months, Riley said everything will be done to help the children deal with any "stressors" they've encountered during their time away.