COVID-19 Operations Plan

Dear CCC Community,

The attached presentation describes the new rules and expectations in detail regarding our operations plan. This is in accordance with guidelines and requirements from licensing, local and state public health authorities, and the CDC.

COVID-19 Operations Plans

We hope to see you all soon!

We Appreciate You

We are thankful for and proud of all our early learning educators and staff members for their incredibly hard work during this unprecedented time, which has enabled our program to serve children and families.

During this week of Teacher Appreciation, we recognize our teachers for their dedication, talent, adaptability, and compassion. You truly are appreciated!

Please join us in thanking our CCC teachers and staff!

 

Replenish CCC’s Emergency Relief Fund

Dear CCC Families,

We miss seeing all of you and your children around the center. Since the center closed back in March in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we’ve worked hard to provide support to our teachers and families. We hope you have been able to participate in zoom music classes with Dayita, use the weekly curriculum with activities for your children, and/or read articles we’ve shared on how to get through this crisis.

We have been able to continue this work without taking tuition payments, in hopes that you can focus on balancing work and family without the added financial burden. Our ability to do this, however, is dependent on our resources to pay teachers and staff during this crisis because 90% of your tuition goes to the Teachers’ and Staff’s payroll and benefits.

Years ago, we had the foresight to slowly build savings to continue paying teachers and staff in the event of a crisis. Today, this Emergency Relief Fund is being quickly depleted.

If you are able to do so, please consider making a gift to replenish the CCC Emergency Relief Fund to ensure the future of our center.

This fundraiser is replacing our spring event, Evening Under the Stars. This is an important source of income for the CCC so please consider contributing what you can to the GoFundMe fundraiser or consider donating all or a portion of the tuition you would have paid in March, April, and May to the CCC Emergency Relief Fund.

You can donate online through our GoFundMe campaign Replenish CCC’s Emergency Relief Fund or by check payable to the Children’s Center at Caltech, sent to 1200 E California Blvd, MC 1-133, Pasadena, CA 91125.

We look forward to when we can reopen our doors to welcome back your entire family. In the meantime, we hope you are able to support our teachers and staff.

Thank you,
Susan and Teresa

Give button | Children's Center at Caltech

 

Important Information Related to COVID-19 from Community Care Licensing and LA Department of Health

Dear CCC Parents,

We continue to keep all of you in mind as we navigate and plan through this pandemic. Thank you, for your continued support of the CCC during these challenging times.

As the CCC enters its early phase of planning for a future opening date, the operations of our program must adhere to the orders from the County, City, and LA Department of Health, and the CA Community Care Licensing Division.   We continue to monitor those directions and recommendations, and share some important information with you here from these departments:

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Guidance for Early Childhood Education Providers

Community Care Licensing Division

PIN 20-06-CCP –Social And Physical Distancing Guidance And Healthy Practices For Child Care Facilities In Response To The Global Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic Written In Collaboration With The California Department Of Education

PIN- 20-04-CCP– Statewide Waivers for Licensing Requirements Due to Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), and Prevention, Containment, and Mitigation Measures

 

4.21.20 Update Regarding the CCC’s School Closure & Plans to Move Forward

To the CCC Community:

We are writing to update you about the CCC closure and our plans going forward.

In our last update, we shared our decision to remain closed until May 1. As you know, the county Safer-at-Home order has been extended until May 15, and we will remain closed until at least that date.

However, our expectation is that when the current government restrictions are relaxed or lifted, we will re-open, immediately for teachers and staff to make the necessary preparations, and one week later for children to resume attending.

We expect that at least initially, there will be rules regarding class size, as well as stringent regulations enforcing social distancing, frequent hand-washing, masks, and temperature checks, among others. We will know the details of these rules, and their impact on the terms of our operation when the stay-home order is relaxed or lifted, and the following week will be used to adapt the center to conform to these rules, and to communicate the changes they may necessitate with CCC families. We are grateful to Susan and her team for the work they have done to prepare for these changes, and we know that they will ensure a warm welcome to our returning children and families, while keeping the health and safety of our entire community as their top priority.

You will also be receiving a short survey from the CCC regarding your childcare needs when the center reopens. Please fill this out to help with our planning.

As always, we continue to evaluate the evolving situation, and we will update you as events warrant.

We hope that you are staying healthy, and we look forward to being able to welcome our families and teachers back to CCC as soon as we can do so safely!

Sincerely,

The Board of Trustees

Update to School Closure in Response to COVID-19

To the CCC Community,

We hope that you and your families are healthy and safe, and adapting as well as possible to these challenging times.

We want to update you on CCC’s closure. In our last communication we announced our decision to close through March 27. We are now extending that closure through the end of April. We continue to monitor the situation and look forward to reopening as soon as it is safe to do so. At the same time, we must all recognize that it is possible that the closure will need to be extended again.

The CCC will not charge tuition while we are closed. This means that your account will show a credit for a portion of your paid March tuition, and you will not be billed for April tuition.

During this closure we are providing full salary and benefits to teachers and other staff, and they are working from home to the extent possible. We are developing creative ways for them to support learning and provide activity ideas to you remotely.

As a community, we can be proud that we are able to continue to pay our teachers, at a time when many small organizations are finding that they are not able to weather this storm. CCC has worked hard over the years to prepare (financially and otherwise) for an emergency such as the one we face now. At the same time, we are a small, independent, non-profit organization, and our reserves will not last indefinitely.

For this reason we are asking our families to consider donating all or a portion of the tuition you would have paid during the closure, so that CCC can continue to support our teachers and staff during this difficult time. Of course, these donations are fully tax-deductible. If your tuition is on auto-pay, don’t change it! We will treat your April payment as a donation. Or, if you usually pay by check, you can mail your donation to the address below. If you’d like to donate all or a portion of your credited March tuition, contact Tiffany at tiffanyc@caltech.edu.

We recognize that each family’s situation is different, but if you feel able to contribute please do. If we all pull together, we believe that our community of teachers and families will emerge from this crisis with renewed strength and commitment to each other and the CCC.

Thank you and be well!

The Board of Trustees
Children’s Center at Caltech
1200 E. California Blvd. MC 1-133
Pasadena, CA 91125

CCC School Closure in Response to COVID-19

March 14, 2020

To the CCC Community,

This morning the Board, together with the CCC administrative team, held a meeting to address the COVID-19 situation. At this time there are no known or suspected cases of COVID-19 infection at the CCC. However, as a precaution, we have made the difficult decision to close the Center Tuesday March 17 through Friday, March 27. We will re-evaluate the closure decision at the end of that period, and we will be in touch with you about any decisions made at that point, or earlier as events warrant. As this is a rapidly changing situation, we want you to be aware that the closure may need to be extended.

This closure is in line with recommendations from the Los Angeles County Office of Education, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, and with the actions taken Friday by surrounding school districts, independent schools, and a number of preschools and childcare centers.

We are committed to protecting the health and safety of the entire CCC Community and we believe that by acting decisively now, we have the best chance to protect our staff and families from infection. By closing the Center now, we can also contribute to the critical national effort to slow the growth of new cases in the larger community and beyond.

We realize that closing the Center is disruptive to both parents and children, and places an additional burden on families at an already difficult time. We ask for your understanding, and trust that we made this decision only after it became apparent that the alternatives were inadequate. The March tuition for the period of closure will be credited against your April tuition bill. The Center staff will be doing administrative work and will be paid during the closure.

The Center will be open as usual Monday, in part to provide families and teachers with time to prepare the children for the closure, and for parents to make alternative arrangements. Families should plan to retrieve any items from the classrooms that they will need during the closure. After Monday, the Center will be closed. However, the CCC administrative team will be available to answer your questions by email or phone.

We will continue to keep you informed, as the COVID-19 situation is changing rapidly, and changes in our plans may occur. Thank you for your patience and support during this challenging time.

The CCC Board of Trustees