January Newsletter 2022
Teri Ann Cox
Executive Director of The Children’s Center
Dear Center Families,
As we kick off the new year, I want to first say thanks to all of you who supported the staff and I through another difficult twelve months. We know in early childhood education that words carry tremendous meaning and power. And the word that continues to come to my mind is resilience. The dictionary defines it as “the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness.” It’s that quality that allows us to overcome challenges, hardship, and adversity, instead of being defeated by them. We summoned that quality repeatedly in 2020, 2021, and it’s also going to be what carries us forward in 2022.
Based on infectious experts, January may be a very difficult month as it relates to illness. We will continue to exclude from childcare and preschool anyone with new and unexplained symptoms of influenza or COVID-19. We will require testing for the virus regardless of vaccination status or if a child has already had the virus more than 30 days ago because reinfection with the new variant is highly possible. We will expect a negative test even if your child only has mild or singular symptoms. NH’s Division of Public Health Services has directly requested of primary care providers that they have a low threshold to test people who are symptomatic. As a reminder, we do accept home test kit results. I encourage you to use these as often as necessary to determine if your child has the infection. For more about self-testing, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/testing/self-testing.html
Please also remember, that if you or a household member tests positive, we need to know. Your child will need to be out for at least 10 days (if they are able to separate from - including use of a different bathroom - the parent or household member with COVID). It this scenario is not possible, then a 20-day isolation period is required before the child can return to the Center.
As far as tuition goes, we learned from DHHS at the end of December that absentee billing will be extended until May 1, 2022. The policy grants a new allotment of 10 Absent Due to COVID days for all eligible children. This reimbursement includes if the child has COVID, if they must isolate as a direct contact, are absent because of the COVID vaccine effects, or if a classroom must be closed.
If you have concerns about or questions regarding the pandemic and how we continue to navigate the situation, please do not hesitate to check with Jana, Tanya, Nancy, Shannon H, or me. Together we will find the resiliency we need to meet the winter’s difficulties in 2022. Here’s to health and hope!
With much appreciation,
Teri Ann
