The past few years seem to have dragged on forever. While everyone wants to get back to our old routine, we aren’t there quite yet. While you and other parents wait for the old sense of safety to return, you want to feel confident when you leave your child to go to work.
As a parent, you want the best environment for your child to live, learn and play. You have control over your own home. You also need to know that your child’s daycare center is as conscientious as you are. Also, you want to ensure that your child’s daycare center policies and practices promote cleanliness and health for children in their care.
Daycare center staff feel the way you do
Daycare center teachers and caregivers recognize that children deserve a clean, safe, healthy environment. These issues have remained among their primary concerns. Connecticut licensing agencies provide guidance on cleaning, health, and safety. Quality centers and their staff continue to meet and exceed those standards.
When daycare administrators and employees promote cleanliness and health for children, they maintain protocols that help them accomplish these goals.
- Every employee wears a mask.
- Centers hold classes in smaller groups with appropriate spacing.
- Every child undergoes a health screening upon arrival.
- Centers implement stringent cleaning guidelines.
- Teachers, child caregivers, and administrators maintain proper handwashing and hygiene behaviors, encouraging children to mirror their behaviors.
- Center policies require that sick children and employees stay at home.
- Guest policies restrict visits inside the center
Keeping up with cleaning, health, and safety guidelines
Working parents need daycare centers, and young children need the education they provide. Daycare centers can provide care services and educational experiences for families who need them, but only if they continue to follow appropriate cleaning, health, and safety protocols.
- Connecticut Regulations: State regulations have always required that schools follow rules that promote cleanliness and health for all children. Section 19a-79-6a: Health and safety contains specific guidelines for food preparation, cleaning, sanitizing, and other vital activities.
- COVID-19 Requirements: The Connecticut Office of Early Childhood established a COVID-19 reporting requirement for daycare centers. It requires schools to complete an online form to report any positive cases among enrolled students and staff.
- On August 19, 2021, the governor issued a state mandate requiring all OEC-licensed daycare center staff to show proof that they received the COVID-19 vaccination. In addition, if a staff member gets an exemption, they must take weekly tests.
- CDC Guidance: The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention have published health and safety guidance for early education and childcare programs for the past two years. While the recent takeaways focus on vaccination, they also stress cleaning and disinfection as a strategy for avoiding infection.
- Connecticut Department of Public Health: A CDPH Fact Sheet, Tips for Cleaning Childcare Facilities the Safe & Healthy Way discusses childhood sensitivities to traditional cleaning products. They explain the differences between cleaning, sanitizing, and disinfecting. They also teach users what ingredients to avoid in cleaning products and recommend green cleaning product substitutes.
Contact The Learning Center
At TLC, we continue to take steps that promote cleanliness and health for children we spend time with every day. Call us at (860) 643-8639 or visit our contact page to learn more about our efforts to keep our facilities clean and our young students safe and healthy.