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Henrico Schools officials today identified the 13 Henrico public schools that will house full-day child care services provided by three nonprofit partners of the school system.
The announcement came a day after officials announced that the county would provide a total of $500,000 in CARES Act funds to the three groups – the YMCA, the Henrico Education Foundation and the Henrico Police Athletic League – to lower the cost of child care for low-income families who need it once school begins Sept. 8 in fully virtual mode.
The YMCA will operate programs at six high schools (Deep Run, Glen Allen, Godwin, Henrico, Hermitage and Varina), while the Henrico Education Foundation will operate at four (Fair Oaks and Greenwood elementaries and Wilder and Quioccasin Middle, with the latter program being only for children of school system employees).
The Henrico Police Athletic League will operate its programs at Dumbarton and Laburnum elementaries, as well as Rolfe Middle.
The programs at all 13 schools are designed to help essential workers and working families who need child care once school begins. Each of the three organizations has revamped its traditional afterschool programs to meet the new need.
“While this is a new initiative, brought on by the coronavirus pandemic, it is consistent with the efforts we make during ‘normal’ school years to connect families to quality, affordable after-school programming,” said HCPS Superintendent Amy Cashwell.
YMCA officials have said that their programs likely will average between 100 and 150 students per location. The other programs likely will be that size or smaller. School system officials have said that the differences between hosting several dozen children in schools and several hundred, were school to be in session in person, are significant.
Students in the child care programs will be in the same small groups all day, in dedicated areas of the school, including a dedicated classroom or instructional space for each group. Those areas, officials said, will undergo frequent intensive cleaning. Transportation will be provided by families, avoiding the risks associated with transporting large groups of students together using HCPS’s bus fleet.
The organizations will provide their own staffing models and determine the capacity for their programs, within the guidelines of the Virginia Department of Health, Virginia Department of Education, the CDC and HCPS. The typical ratio of students to adults in the child-care setting is 10-to-one.
While some HCPS teachers will be working in their classrooms – conducting virtual classes and offering limited in-person instruction for students – plans for in-school child-care programs will take this capacity into account and won’t detract from “regular” HCPS programming or safety, according to school system officials. The in-school child-care programs also won’t interfere with any plans to incorporate more in-person student attendance, as conditions allow, they said.
Program details
The YMCA program will operate Monday through Friday, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will be adaptable to meet students’ virtual classroom schedules. The later portion of the day will include enrichment opportunities such as STEAM concepts, drumming, dance, computer coding, cooking, poetry and a variety of other activities. The program is for children in kindergarten through eighth grade. The cost of the program is $100 per week per child, with additional discounts available for qualifying families.
For details, visit https://www.ymcarichmond.org/child-care-camps/, then click on “Supporting Virtual Learning.”
The Henrico PAL program will operate Monday through Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Programming will consist of support for HCPS virtual learning, as well as Henrico PAL programs such as STEAM concepts, chess, dance, art and financial literacy. While the new program is operating, PAL’s regular after-school program will not be offered. The program is open to children in kindergarten through fifth grade, and the cost is $100 per week per child.
For details, visit Henrico PAL’s child care information page at https://www.henricopal.org/after-school-program.html.
The Henrico Education Foundation program will operate from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. Students will participate in virtual learning activities during the school day, and after-school recreational activities each afternoon. Staff members will work closely with HCPS to support classroom teachers’ facilitation of virtual learning. Children will be provided with two snacks each day and lunch will be available for a fee.
The Fair Oaks, Greenwood and Wilder sites will serve Henrico County children in kindergarten through fifth grade, while the Quioccasin site will serve children of HCPS employees who fall into the same age group. The cost of the program is $100 per week per child.
For details or to register, visit https://henricogives.org/after-school-enrichment-program/ or contact HEF’s Scott Williams at scott@henricogives.org.
