Our Response to Covid-19

Overview

Riekes Nature is following all county health orders regarding COVID-19 safety, including health screenings, temperature checks, social distancing, wearing masks, frequent hand-washing, and sanitizing of surfaces and equipment. We take student safety very seriously and would be happy to discuss our protocols in detail.

We are limiting class sizes to 14 students per group, as recommended by county, state, and CDC guidelines.

Drop off and Pick up Social Distancing. 

Although we are gathering in stable groups with the children, we are asking that family members, parents and caregivers continue to comply with social distancing requirements during pick up and drop off times, including:

• Maintaining at least six feet of separation from individuals who are not part of the same household or living unit to the greatest extent possible.

• Ideally, we recommend that the same parent or designated person should drop off and pick up your child each day. If possible, older people such as grandparents or those with serious underlying medical conditions should not pick up children, because they are more at risk for severe illness from COVID-19.

• We ask that parents, family members and caregivers do not congregate in meeting spots or parking lots while waiting for drop off and pick up. *We will provide specific pick up/drop off and parking details for each location*

Masks

All students MUST bring a mask to program and carry it at all times. Students aged 12 and under are encouraged but not required to wear a mask while in program, however, all students will be required to wear a mask if they are engaging in activities that are closer than six feet together. Examples of these closer-contact activities are: looking at a banana slug together on the trail, an instructor showing a student how to twist cordage and they need to come into the student’s space bubble, etc. 

Students aged 12 and older are required to wear a mask unless they are engaged in outdoor/open air activities that require physical exertion and in which they are socially distanced by 6 feet. 

Sign in and Child Screening 

Upon arrival, please stand outside your car with your child/children and wait for a Riekes Instructor to come to you. A Riekes instructor will approach your car wearing a mask and gloves, and will conduct a health screening for each child which will include the following: 

• Temperature Check: We will be checking each child’s temperatures upon arrival. This will be done by the mentors with a contactless forehead thermometer which will be disinfected between each child. 

Any children with temperatures of 100.4F or above will not be permitted to join programming.

• Visual Inspection for Symptoms:  Mentors will be making a visual inspection of children for signs of illness which could include flushed cheeks, rapid breathing or difficulty breathing (without recent physical activity), fatigue, or extreme fussiness. 

• Children displaying the following symptoms will not be permitted to join programming:

  • Coughing, fever, shortness of breath (without recent physical activity)

In the Event of Illness

During this time, we ask that parents keep children home in the event that your child or any other individuals in your household begin to display symptoms including high fever, coughing and difficulty breathing. Before returning to programming, we highly recommend that children and others in the home be tested for Covid-19.

If children become ill during programming: 

• The child will be isolated from the group in an appropriate area, supervised by a mentor, and families will be notified and asked to pick up as soon as possible. 

• A substitute mentor will be called in to support the other mentor and the group.

• Any and all medical equipment used to care for the child will be discarded or sanitized. 

If a mentor becomes ill during programming:

• The mentor will notify their counterpart and isolate themselves from the group. 

• A substitute mentor will be called in to support the other mentor and the group.

• Any and all medical equipment used to care for the mentor will be discarded or sanitized. 

In either of these cases, all participating families will be notified immediately if symptoms are synonymous with COVID-19 infection and programming will be suspended until test results are returned to the symptomatic individual. 

Hygiene, Hand Washing and Sanitizing

Mentors will bring soap and water stations for hand washing purposes where running water is not accessible. Children will be encouraged to wash hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds. In accordance with the Center for Disease Control, we will also be using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol in cases where refilling water bottles for hand washing is not available. We will be practicing healthy respiratory hygiene and children will be encouraged to cough and sneeze into their sleeves or a disposable tissue.

Children will be encouraged to wash hands frequently, and specifically during the following times:

• Upon arrival to programming

• Before and after eating

• After sneezing, coughing or nose blowing

• After going to the bathroom

Low Contact Activities and Mealtimes

Activities:

In planning our programming during this time, we will be focusing on games and activities which require little contact between children and will be encouraging them to give one another lots of space during our time together. We understand that this can be challenging and will provide gentle reminders when necessary. 

If we do any activities that are hands-on and/or that bring us closer together than 6 feet, all students will be required to wear masks while in that closer contact. 

Lunch and Snacks:

Youth may not share food or water with other students, unless they are from the same household. Masks will not be required during snack/lunch time, and students will be spaced out to ensure appropriate social distancing.

Water Refills:

When using water refill stations, mentors will first disinfect nozzles and handles and will refill children’s bottles for them. 

Additional Information

For additional information on the county and state regulations that informed this protocol, or to review literature providing guidance for childcare programs please visit the following websites:

Center for Disease Control and Prevention - Guidance for Child Care Programs

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/guidance-for-childcare.html

Santa Clara County Directive for Programs Serving Youth: https://www.sccgov.org/sites/covid19/Pages/mandatory-directives-programs-serving-children-or-youth.aspx