Childcare Centers Help School-Aged Students With Online Learning Amid COVID-19 Pandemic
LUTHERVILLE, Md. (WJZ) -- Childcare centers are continuing to struggle because of capacity restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Daycare centers, like the Celebree school in Lutherville-Timonium, aren't just for toddlers anymore.
The center is now giving school-aged students a place to attend virtual classes for parents who can't work from home.
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"We're helping these children in their online learning because these parents have to return back to work so our school-aged program has been totally revamped," Richard Huffman, Celebree Schools CEO, said.
Several steps are taken to try to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19; like temperature checks, mask-wearing and setting up plastic shields at desks.
"We created these personal work stations. These are acrylic stations that we made for each of our Celebree schools so that the children could see their friends and work in these stations," Kristen Miller, Celebree Schools Director of Accreditation, said.
But, because of coronavirus restrictions, the center still can't welcome back all of the children that normally come here.
"We're in Phase Three. As the governor announced, and at this point, we should be back to full licensed capacity, and we're just not," Huffman said.
Huffman also said he doesn't know why they aren't allowed to fully open. Right now, the Celebree School is at 65 percent capacity. He said there are a lot of people waiting to get their children back into childcare.
"We have hundreds of families that are waiting for us to raise our capacities or for the state to raise our capacities," Huffman said.
The Celebree School said it's trying to accommodate as many children as it can. If you're interested in getting your child enrolled in their program you can click right here.
For the latest information on coronavirus go to the Maryland Health Department's website or call 211. You can find all of WJZ's coverage on coronavirus in Maryland here.
