Safety for our students and staff amid coronavirus spread
March 17, 2020
Dear Prouty Community,
We continue to assess our ability to provide services and keep our community safe.
Early Learning Center
We have just received an Executive Order from Governor Scott that childcare programs should be closed no later than Wednesday, March 18th through Monday, April 6th except those serving essential persons. (Click here to read the Order) We will be discussing how to provide childcare services to children who may not be enrolled currently in our program and whose families need childcare because they are classified as essential personnel.
Community Based Services
We will continue to provide services through Children’s Integrated Services, Family Supportive Housing, and Child Care Support Services although it will look different. Specifically, we are limiting face-to-face direct services and primarily offering virtual support.
As always please do not hesitate to be in touch with questions, ideas and concerns.
Thank you for doing all you can to take care of yourselves and support our community during this public health crisis. I am heartened by everyone’s willingness to stay engaged in the face of uncertainty and fear.
Take good care,
Chloe Learey
Executive Director
March 16, 2020
Dear Prouty Community,
At this time, the Center is working to keep essential services open. We are actively working to define what those essential services are, and how to deliver them if possible (i.e. childcare for first responders, health care workers, etc.).
Guidance from the Governor’s office remains the same: “Childcare facilities are encouraged to use prevention and mitigation strategies rather than closing facilities until there is evidence that a case is linked to the program or childcare facility in some way.” We are waiting on guidance for delivering home visiting services. We are enhancing our prevention and mitigation strategies, including but not limited to: updating our exclusion policy to align with the recommendations from the Department of Health, signage requesting that those who come to the building self-screen and not enter according to those guidelines, not holding meetings larger than 50 people, and considering other ways to promote social distancing.
The most important thing to do is take care of yourself and your family. As usual, we are taking a supportive approach to everyone in our community. If you have questions or concerns about your individual situation, please talk with someone in leadership so that we can be responsive. We want to assure everyone we will do all we can to support people financially and emotionally.
This is a very challenging situation and we are doing our best to assess information and make decisions that support our Prouty community as well as the larger community. Everyone is essential in being part of the solution. Thank you for your feedback, thoughts and questions, and your willingness to carry on in the face of uncertainty. Trying times bring out some of the best and some of the most difficult characteristics of being human. We strive to approach this believing everyone has good intentions and understanding that everyone is doing the best they can.
We will be in touch regularly as the situation continues to develop.
Take good care,
Sunday, March 15, 2020 7:31 pm
Winton Prouty will be open tomorrow, Monday March 16, 2020, for regular hours. Our teams will be planning extensively tomorrow for the upcoming days.
Beginning tomorrow, we will be following protocol from the Vermont Department of Health about who should enter the building. Please review the guidance below, we will be strictly enforcing this. We will be available to respond to questions at (802) 257-7852 beginning at 7am tomorrow morning.
The Winston Prouty Center is prioritizing the health and safety of our employees, clients and the children in our care amid the current spread of the coronavirus.
Our Organizational Management Team is discussing next steps each week and we have developed a response team for daily check-ins of updates and strategies.
Our policies are being informed by regular updates we are receiving from the Centers for Disease Control, the Vermont Department of Health, and Vermont Child Care Division. As always, we encourage Early Learning Center parents to keep their children home if they are not feeling well, and we (per CDD regulations) send children home if they have a fever. Home visiting staff are encouraged to reschedule appointments if children or other family members are not feeling well.
Our cleaning staff has been asked to focus extra attention on places where germs are most likely to spread, such as door handles, bathrooms, and eating areas.
We are trying to inhibit the spread of germs by placing hand sanitizer around the building and keeping internal doors open as much as possible
Please remember to take the following precautionary measures:
- WASH YOUR HANDS – Scrub your hands with soap for at least 20 seconds
- DO NOT TOUCH YOUR FACE – Do something with your hands to avoid touching your face, such as sit on them, play with a fidget, or squeeze a stress ball.
- COVER YOUR COUGH – Cough into a tissue and discard it, or into your elbow if there are no tissues available.
- STAY HOME IF YOU ARE SICK – Staying home is the best way to avoid spreading illness.
- STAY INFORMED – Below are the four websites with up-to-date and reliable information about COVID-19.
Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
If you have any questions or concerns, please call us at 257-7852