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. If you have any questions after reading the following information, please email riskmanagement@ncrcpreschool.org
NCRC Community Resources
FAQs (Updated 11.16.20)
COVID-19 has injected uncertainty into every crevice of our lives. At NCRC, we know that when it comes to our children, there is very little room for that kind of uncertainty.
James Carroll as Head of School, the NCRC faculty and staff, the Board of Trustees and Preparedness Task Force 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 providing a rich distance learning program that delivers on the promise of an NCRC education for all those who do not yet feel comfortable to return to the physical schoolhouse. We also commit to communicating clearly and transparently about everything related to COVID-19, both those things that we as a school can control, and those things over which we as a community are, frankly, powerless.
In all of our planning for this year, 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.
We aim to answer the frequently asked questions below as clearly and transparently as is possible in the rapidly evolving environment that this global pandemic has created for all of us.
If you have additional questions that are not addressed here, please reach out to James Carroll directly at jcarroll@ncrcpreschool.org
- To report any kind of illness, or to ask health-related questions (including COVID-19 related questions, reporting of taking a COVID-19 test, or reporting a positive COVID-19 result), please email health@ncrcpreschool.org
- If you have any questions regarding the work of NCRC’s Preparedness Task Force, please reach out to Mary Farmer or Eric Fish.
- If you have questions about the role or work of NCRC’s Board of Trustees during this time, please be in touch with NCRC’s Board Chair, Robert Crawford.
- If you are experiencing unanticipated financial distress as a result of the drastic economic impact of COVID-19, and would like to apply for tuition assistance, please be in touch with NCRC’s Director of Admissions & Enrollment Management, Janet Carter.
- If you or your family are experiencing loss, anxiety or are just in need of additional support, please reach out to NCRC’s Director of Counseling and Family Support, Judith Wides.
- If you’re looking for a way to support NCRC at this challenging and uncertain time, please consider reaching out to NCRC’s Director of Advancement, Brian O’Malley.
- Why are there so many different arrival and departure times and drop-off/pick-up locations?
- What would prompt you to revisit the school’s current operational status?
- What are you doing about the potential for travel amongst community members in the upcoming holiday season?
- Which additional spaces are being utilized within the school building?
- Why didn’t NCRC rent additional spaces?
- Why hasn’t the school restarted carpool?
- Has the school adopted new safety procedures and protocols to allow for a safe in-person experience?
- Is the school revising these policies and procedures at all given the coming cold and flu season and general colder weather?
- How and when are children sanitizing and washing their hands?
- How are classrooms being safely and appropriately transitioned from AM to PM groups?
- What procedures do you have in place to ensure safety in shared spaces in split classrooms, like entrances and bathrooms?
- 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?
- What happens if somebody becomes ill?
- Does the school have the PPE they need?
- What is the status of the school’s ventilation system?
- Are children required to wear masks?
- Is NCRC providing snacks for students?
- Why are children not allowed to bring in/use metal water bottles or containers?
- Are visitors allowed on campus?
- How are you handling community-wide gatherings and events?
- What does distance learning look like for each age?
- Why does the expanded in-person schedule continue to include at-home Fun Fridays?
- What resources are being made available to parents in a distance learning environment?
- Will optional programs (Early birds, lunch bunch, later gators) be made available?
- What are you doing to address the needs of children in Early Beginnings and Play Pals programs?
- How are you addressing the needs of immunocompromised children?
Why are there so many different arrival and departure times and drop-off/pick-up locations?
What would prompt you to revisit the school’s current operational status?
What are you doing about the potential for travel amongst community members in the upcoming holiday season?
Which additional spaces are being utilized within the school building?
Why didn’t NCRC rent additional spaces?
Why hasn’t the school restarted carpool?
Has the school adopted new safety procedures and protocols to allow for a safe in-person experience?
Is the school revising these policies and procedures at all given the coming cold and flu season and general colder weather?
How and when are children sanitizing and washing their hands?
How are classrooms being safely and appropriately transitioned from AM to PM groups?
What procedures do you have in place to ensure safety in shared spaces in split classrooms, like entrances and bathrooms?
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?
What happens if somebody becomes ill?
Does the school have the PPE they need?
What is the status of the school’s ventilation system?
Are children required to wear masks?
Is NCRC providing snacks for students?
Why are children not allowed to bring in/use metal water bottles or containers?
Are visitors allowed on campus?
How are you handling community-wide gatherings and events?
What does distance learning look like for each age?
Why does the expanded in-person schedule continue to include at-home Fun Fridays?
What resources are being made available to parents in a distance learning environment?
Will optional programs (Early birds, lunch bunch, later gators) be made available?
What are you doing to address the needs of children in Early Beginnings and Play Pals programs?
How are you addressing the needs of immunocompromised children?
Community Updates
What is Coronavirus?
- What is a coronavirus?
- Why is the disease being called coronavirus disease 2019 – COVID 19?
- What is the name of the virus causing the outbreak of coronavirus disease?
- What is the source of the virus?
- How does the virus spread?
- Can someone who has had COVID-19 spread the illness to others?
- Can someone who has been quarantined for COVID-19 spread the illness to others?
- Why might someone blame or avoid individuals or groups (create stigma) because of COVID-19?
- How can people help stop stigma related to COVID-19?