Makom Community
Fall 2021
COVID-19 Safety Plan
What an unimaginably challenging last year and a half we’ve had! We know more than ever before about COVID-19, and we are prepared to leverage all that learning to do everything we can to keep each other safe. We are pleased to share that all of our staff members and all of our students who are 12+ are fully vaccinated. Thank you in advance for monitoring your whole family closely for symptoms and taking appropriate precautions even when you are not at Makom Community in order to keep our whole community safe.
PPE
All students, educators, and parents will be masked when indoors at Makom Community. Masks must be at least two layers and well-fitted under the chin with ear loops or behind-the-head ties. This does not include neck gaiters or neck gaiters with ear loops. Our educators will be in either a surgical mask or a KN95. Educators will mask indoors, even when they are only there with other fully vaccinated educators. All our educators are fully vaccinated. We will continue to require that all our educators are fully vaccinated.
Screening Questions
All staff will answer these questions for the people in their household or pod. All parents or caregivers will answer these questions on behalf of their children and their household or pod.
- Are you or anyone in your household experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms? (Fever/chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficult breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea)
- Has anyone in your household been exposed to someone with confirmed or presumed COVID-19?
- Is anyone in your household waiting on the results of a COVID-19 test?
For kids dropped off at Makom Community by parents or caregivers
We will ask you these questions in person, at drop off before you leave your child(ren) with us for programming. Please be patient with us as we have this check-in with each family.
If you are dropping your child off to us in Center City, plan to drop them off on Ionic St. Our address there is 2012 Ionic. You are welcome to walk or drive down Ionic St to our door. If you are dropping your child off in South Philly, you’ll drop them off to our front door at 1505 S. 13th St.
For kids who are picked up from schools
We will text you these questions daily. Please plan to respond by 12pm via text on any day your child will be attending Jewish Enrichment. If we haven’t heard back from you by noon, we’ll give you a call. We can only pick up your child from school with this symptom checking information.
Arrival Procedure
As children and staff arrive each day, they will come in, put their things down, and go straight to wash hands before doing any other activities in our space.
End of Day Pick Up
Pick up in Center City is from our door on Ionic Street. We now have a new video doorbell! Pick up in South Philly is from our front door on 13th Street. We will give the front door code to parents in phone calls the week before school begins. Pick up at both locations begins at 5:30pm.
Vaccinated parents who are wearing a 2+ layer mask with ear loops or that ties behind the head are welcome to come inside to pick up their children. If you would prefer that we bring your child(ren) out to you, just let us know when you come to the door.
Snacking & Singing
Though they are two of our favorite activities at Makom Community, we will prioritize eating and singing outdoors. If weather prohibits these activities happening outdoors, we will distance to the best of our ability indoors to eat quickly. Singing activities will be redirected to other ways to explore those learning goals instead while we are indoors. We sang outdoors all through last winter though, so barring lightning or pouring rain, we anticipate spending lots of time outdoors each day. When staff prepare snacks, they will wash hands first, wear gloves, and continue to be masked as they do any food preparation work. All snacks will be served with serving utensils or gloved hands, by an adult.
Cleaning & Ventilation
Each classroom (students and staff) will be assigned to a single bathroom. We have nightly professional cleaning. Each classroom is fully equipped with a HEPA filter that is kept running 24 hours a day. When possible, we will keep classroom doors or windows open for additional ventilation.
Communication Plan
As always, we want to keep parents in the loop about what is going on with their kids! We will let you know if there is a known positive case or symptoms of COVID-19 at Makom Community. We will share the age group the child or staff member is in so you have a good understanding of how likely it is that your child was (or was not) exposed.
Parent form agreeing to inform
We will ask parents/guardians to sign a form agreeing to notify Makom Community immediately if:
- Their child has COVID-19 symptoms.
- Their child has come into contact with someone COVID-19-positive or presumed positive. Close contact means 15 minutes or more within a 6ft indoor distance of someone symptomatic, presumed COVID-19 positive, or confirmed COVID-19 positive.
- Their child is waiting for the results of a COVID-19 test.
Parents who knowingly do not report these issues to Makom Community are subject to their child’s removal from Makom Community programming.
Responding to observed symptoms
If we observe a child or staff member with symptoms that could be COVID-19, they will
be quarantined in our space until they can be picked up, outdoors with a staff member if possible. We understand that we are opening the school year when it is also cold and flu season. If your child has any two symptoms, no matter how mild, we ask that you not send them to Makom Community. Even if what they have is a cold and not COVID-19, sharing it among our students and staff would keep more people out of our programming. We are trying to make sure to keep as many of us at Makom as possible. If a child is symptomatic at Makom, parents will be called immediately. We ask that you pick up as soon as possible in this scenario. A symptomatic staff member will be sent home immediately.
If a student or staff member had 2 or more symptoms that could be COVID-19 while at Makom Community, their kevutzah (group) will stay home and participate in remote learning until either:
- The symptomatic person tests negative and has been fever free for 24 hours
OR
- The symptomatic person tests positive and the exposed and unvaccinated members of the class have completed a self-quarantine (7 days + test administered on day 5 or later that was negative or 14 days).
A student or staff member with symptoms that could be COVID-19 needs one of these to return to Makom Community’s in person programming:
- A negative COVID test and 24 hours fever-free without fever reducers
OR
- To stay home until it has been at least 10 days since symptoms first appeared AND they have had no fever and been off anti-fever medication for 3 days AND symptoms have improved.
During that time, students will have opportunities for remote learning. Symptomatic staff will be asked to work from home and participate in distance learning as much as possible.
In case of exposure
We are working very hard to keep each of our kevutzot (groups) totally separated while indoors. Kevutzot may spend time with another kevutzah while outdoors and masked. They will have seperate storage space, restrooms to use, and not mix groups indoors. If a member of one kevutzah reports becoming symptomatic, any unvaccinated child who was in close contact with them within 48 hours of becoming symptomatic will be asked to self-quarantine (7 days + negative test taken on day 5 or later OR 14 days). Everyone else will be monitored for symptoms. If your child’s grade or classroom are sent home for remote classes due to exposure, they also need to stay home from Makom Community.
All of our staff and 12+ year old students are fully vaccinated. In a case where a vaccinated student or staff member is exposed, in following current CDC regulations, they are permitted to continue at Makom as long as they are not showing any symptoms. If they began to show symptoms, they would follow the steps above for anyone who is symptomatic.
Thank you for helping to keep our Makom Community students, teachers, and families safe during this strange and stressful time. We’ll hold each other through this and look forward to when all our students can be vaccinated!
FAQ’s
Q: A student in my child’s grade at school tested positive for COVID-19. The school did not tell us which class the child was in or how likely of an exposure. Can my children attend Makom?
A: We’re sure this will happen at some point this year. Since there was a potential exposure, your children are welcome to return to Jewish Enrichment when it has been 14 days since their last day in school or 7 days followed by a negative COVID-19 test result.
Q:What happens if our family of vaccinated parents and unvaccinated children learns that we were exposed to a fully vaccinated individual who tested positive for COVID-19?
A: CDC suggests that fully vaccinated people get tested 3-5 days after exposure. (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/if-you-are-sick/quarantine.html). Children should follow self-quarantine described above.
Q:What happens when my child has a runny nose during cold and flu season?
A: A runny nose is just one symptom, so they can attend Jewish Enrichment. If they arrive at Jewish Enrichment, and share with an educator that they have another symptom, or an educator observes another symptom, we will call you and ask you to come pick up your children immediately.
Q: If I pick up my kids from Jewish Enrichment because an educator observes two or more symptoms or my child is complaining of not feeling well with two or more symptoms, when can they return to Jewish Enrichment?
A:After either 14 days OR after 7 days + negative test taken on day 5 or afterward.
If you ever have any questions about possible exposure or if your children can attend Jewish Enrichment, please call us! We are here to get through this together.