Dear Parents and Dancers,
As you know, Sterling Ballet Academy is proud to offer our after school program for the last 8 years, and we are excited to announce our school care program for the 2020-21 school year. With all the changes for this school year, we are opening our school care program to provide FULL-DAY and HALF-DAY options to support our parent’s needs. Most importantly we are focused on having strong safety precautions for the environment of our studio and for each of our students and instructors. We have partnered with a deep cleaning service, and also a service that provides a weekly electrostatic disinfectant solution throughout the entire school. In addition, teachers will have mandatory cleaning of the classrooms and studios between each and every class.
· Our full-day option will run from 8 am – 6:30 pm daily and will include internet access so your child can engage in distance learning with their school. Since we know how important dance is to our students, two daily dance classes will be included. This is a great way for them to have a healthy mind and body. Homework help, reading, and arts and crafts are included as well. Students must bring their own lunch and snack every day.
· We are also offering a half-day option from 12:00 – 6:30 pm daily. Students will have internet access for any distance learning needs as well as one dance class per day. Snack time, homework help, reading, and arts and crafts are included.
· Finally our after-school option is available from 3 pm – 6:30 pm daily. As usual, one dance class, homework help, reading, and arts and crafts are included.
· Additionally we are offering morning pick up for our full day students from specific locations for those that are interested. Additional tuition will be charged for morning pick up. Of course, you are welcome to drop your student off at the studio in the morning.
We are currently working to improve our internet access to accommodate all of our students as well as installing software to use with our video cameras so parents will be able to access the class room live feed any time of the day to see what their student is doing.
In order to keep all of our students and staff safe, we are including safety protocols for everyone to follow. Instructors and teachers will strongly encourage positive social distancing measures and best practices to prevent illness and encourage healthy in studio and in classroom habits for our students. Therefore we will have limited enrollments for each level to make these enforcements work for the safety of our students and instructors.Stay tuned for a video on our Facebook and Instagram pages for you to see how the school care spaces are now set up.
Following you will find the registration form as well as the policies and procedures information. Should you have any questions please contact the office at (703) 430-1001.
We are looking forward to having our dancers with us again this year.
Sincerely,Ms. Tuya and Mr. Ulzii
School Care Program Registration Form
School Regulations and Rules
Rules for the Studio(Covid-19) No-touch temperature checks for all students and staff members each day before entering the studio and requiring staff members to check their own temperature each day before reporting to work. (Limit: 100.4 or below)10-foot-distancing maintained from fellow students at all times in the dance studio. 6-foot-distancing in the school room, lobby, corridor, bathroom and waiting area.No more than 8 students per dance class to maintain social distancing. Teachers are required to wear a face mask or shield at all times.Dancers are encouraged to wear a face mask at all times.Hand sanitizer will be provided at the studio door and used by everyone before entering or leaving the studio.SBA will not provide masks, spare dance shoes or hair supplies.Lunch and snack will not be provided. Please make sure to prepare!
Should SBA be screening dancers and staff? ●For optimal safety, the answer is yes ○Daily temperature checks. ■Dancers presenting with a temperature > 100.4 degrees should consult with a physician for further evaluation ○Review of any symptoms that could be attributed to COVID-19 ■Cough, difficulty breathing, sore throat, unusual headache, unexplained muscle and/or joint pain, chills, fever, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of sense of smell, pink eye ○Signs of increased fatigue ○Review of other possible symptoms and feeling unwell ○Anyone with symptoms or fever is asked not to come to SBA and report to their physician and isolate themselves. ●The same procedures should be applied to all employees entering our location ●All dancers and staff should be self-monitoring their symptoms. This may include but is not limited to: ●Checking for fever > 100.4, cough, shortness of breath twice a day ●Daily review of other symptoms that could be related: ○Sore throat, congestion, headache, muscle and joint pain, chills, nausea or vomiting, diarrhea, loss of sense of smell, pink eye ●Anyone who develops symptoms should leave immediately, seek care from their physician, and isolate.
What if I don’t want or cannot wear mask?●Considerations for dancers wearing masks ○A mask will make it harder to breathe during exercise initially and dancers should self-monitor for symptoms of light-headedness, dizziness, numbness or tingling, and shortness of breath ○Monitor the intensity of your class/workout as you get used to wearing a mask during exercise ■Your body will adapt over a few weeks to wearing a mask ○If you start to feel dizzy, imbalanced, or over fatigued stop your activity and rest ○Do your best not to remove your mask during class or rehearsal. If you do need to remove your mask, dispose of single use masks in the trash or place a reusable mask into its own sealable bag, wash your hands and/or use an alcohol based hand sanitizer letting it dry for 30 seconds and then replace your mask with a clean one. ○Dancers may require multiple masks to get through the day ○If your mask becomes saturated with moisture from breathing or sweat you need to change into a dry mask. ■A wet mask is less efficient at filtering bacteria and viruses ○Masks should only be worn once and then replaced with a fresh mask. ○All reusable masks should be cleaned ideally in a washer with hot water and soap and then dried in a dryer prior to next use. Ironing on the highest setting can also disinfect after washing and drying. ○There are now multiple commercial reusable mask options available for use during dance/exercise.
What if I just have a runny nose, sneeze, and cough from seasonal allergies? ●These symptoms are still an issue because COVID-19 is spread in the droplets from mucous ●You may have allergies but still be an asymptomatic carrier of the virus and spread the disease, causing others to become ill ●If your allergies are not controlled, and you can not wear mask, please see your doctor to help get these symptoms under control as you should not be in the studio with any of these symptoms while the virus is still a threat.
Do dancers need to wear gloves? ○Gloves are not recommended by the CDC at this time ○Best practice is wash your hands with soap and water for 20 seconds and/or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, which will be placed in every classrooms and studios ○Washing hands is recommended before and after entering the studio.
Do dancers need to wear eye covering? No, since you are not caring for COVID-19 patients and this is not practical in the dance setting ○Avoid touching eyes and face when in the studios and building ○No one should be in the studio with an active cough or sneeze, even from allergies.
What are some additional studio/classroom considerations? ●We will be creating box/cubby for dancers to place their bags so that social distancing can be maintained among belongings ●Shoes can be a potential transmitter of disease. Street shoes should be removed prior to entering any studios. All dance shoes should not be worn outside of the studio. ●Additional minimum 60% ethyl alcohol-based or 70% isopropyl-alcohol based hand sanitizer will be available for use ○Wiping shoes before entering any room.
What are some precautions that may need to be in place for dressing rooms and bathrooms? ●Ensure enough room for social distancing and appropriate and frequent sanitizing measures in dressing rooms and rest rooms ●If possible, arrive with dance clothes under street clothes ●In bathrooms make sure that you can maintain social distance both inside and outside (decreasing overall bathroom capacity).
What are considerations for lobby waiting areas for dropping and picking up Dancers? ●Parents Pick up and Drop off students in the main Lobby and hallway areas. Parents are not allowed in the SBA waiting area. Teachers will walk out to release students to their parents safely. Dancers recommended not being late or coming early more than 10 minutes.
What happens if we discover a case of COVID-19 in our community once reopened at any phase of reintegration? ●Dancers or staff who become ill while at work need to be isolated immediately and should seek advice and care from their health care provider. ○The studio and all surface areas where the individual was will be cleaned and disinfected thoroughly. ●Dancers and staff who are well, but who live with someone with COVID-19, should notify their supervisor and quarantine for 14 days after last exposure. If a case of COVID-19 is confirmed: ○The studios and company need to halt operations for 5 days ○Wait 24 hours before cleaning and disinfecting to minimize potential for further exposure during cleaning. Depending on the state, public health authorities may engage in contact tracing which occurs through the physician office. To protect patient privacy, contacts are only informed that they may have been exposed to a patient with the infection. They are not told the identity of the patient who may have exposed them per the CDC. Remember that everything is changing day to day, stay up to date with current guidelines by CDC.
After school program for grades kindergarten through 6th grade.