The health and safety of your children and our NCRC community are always our highest priority. We are monitoring the spread of Coronavirus (COVID-19) and its potential impact for the metropolitan region and for the school. We work and collaborate with the DC Department of Health on all health-related cases and receive additional guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
We continue to actively monitor the spread of Coronavirus and will regularly update this page to share the school's responses and helpful resources.
FAQs
COVID-19 has introduced uncertainty into every part of our lives. At NCRC, we know that when it comes to our children, there is very little room for that kind of uncertainty.
NCRC Faculty & Staff and the Board of Trustees are doing everything within our power to support students, families, caregivers, faculty and staff amidst this uncertainty.
We maintain our commitment to maximize every possible opportunity for safe in-person learning, while continuing to maintain quality resources if a rich distance learning program is ever required in support of best health and safety practices. We also commit to communicating clearly and transparently about everything related to COVID-19.
We have prioritized three core objectives:
- Strict adherence to protocols and procedures to keep our students, families, faculty and staff healthy and safe;
- Ensuring we deliver on the promise of a play-based education experience in line with the values of NCRC for all of our children; and
- Supporting all of our families to the greatest extent possible throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please note that COVID-19 related information continues to evolve frequently and, often, rapidly. NCRC continually reviews guidelines released by OSSE/DC Health and makes adjustments to procedures and policies as guidelines and mandates change.
Guidelines and mandates have evolved many times since March of 2020, and continue to do so – especially when new variants surface, as well as whenever the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to different groups and ages. We are grateful to our staff for keeping current with these updates which allows us to follow best practice.
We will continue to share important updates with the whole community through our school-wide emails and on this website.
- What might prompt you to revisit the school’s operational status?
- Has the school adopted safety procedures and protocols to allow for a safe in-person experience?
- Are all children required to wear masks?
- Which additional spaces are being utilized within the school building?
- Why hasn’t the school restarted carpool at the end of the school day?
- Why are there multiple arrival and departure times and drop-off/pick-up locations?
- Will optional programs (Early Birds, Lunch Bunch, Later Gators) be made available?
- Is NCRC providing snacks for students?
- How are classrooms being safely and appropriately transitioned from AM to PM groups?
- What happens if somebody becomes ill?
- Returning to NCRC after an illness or a PCR Test
- What is the DoH (DC’s Department of Health/DC Health) and NCRC’s process when a positive case is reported?
- Can an AM class remain open when a PM class who use the same classroom space has to close (such as Butterfly AM and Butterfly PM) - or vice versa?
- Do the teachers have to quarantine when there has been a positive case in their class? Do they still have to take a PCR test?
- What factors may result in the closure of a single class, or the entire school?
- What is the difference between an antigen test and a PCR test?
- How and when are children sanitizing and washing their hands?
- What is the status of the school’s ventilation system?
- Given the importance of outside time during the pandemic, what circumstances lead to the school making a determination to NOT send students outdoors during the school day?
- Are visitors allowed on campus?
- Does NCRC allow contractors and other individuals into the building this year?
- Does the school have the PPE they need?
- What are you doing to address the needs of children in Early Beginnings and Play Pals programs?
- What resources are being made available to parents in a distance learning environment?