For Directors 

Directors Alerts

• A helpful 51-minute EEC video, Child and Youth Serving Programs Reopen Approach, provides step-by-step instructions for completing and submitting a Reopening Plan. Guidance on how to upload forms begins at the following times:
  – Staff Checklist: minute 22:26;
  – Classroom/Group Information Form: minute 23:29;
  – Attestation Form: minute 25:32
• EEC updated several documents:
  –The Attestation Form on June 17th. Sample forms are available in Spanish, Portuguese, and Simple Chinese;
  –Frequently Asked Questions on June 20th.
• Guidance for Local Board of Health Reporting RE: COVID-19 has recently been posted on B3 website and the City of Cambridge’s COVID-19 Updates & Reopening webpage.
• EEC’s Reopening Plan requires programs to provide contact information for their local Board of Health. This information is:
  – Address: 19 Windsor St., Cambridge, MA 02139
  – Phone: 617-665-3826
  – Email: [email protected].
• Administrators and directors are required to take the Guidance for Reopening Child Care training module.
• Free COVID-19 testing at the Gore Street location will end this Friday, June 26th. Testing will continue in Somerville. Testing is available weekdays from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. by appointment only (617-665-2928).
• UMass Boston Early Ed Leadership & Innovation is offering a 3-part webinar series, Reimagining Stronger and More Equitable Systems of Early Care and Education.
• The CDC Foundation’s 1 ½ hour recorded webinar, Evolving Your COVID-19 Strategy, offers an organized way to make decisions for situations not covered in EEC’s minimum guidance. Child care specific examples are used to show how a simple decision-making worksheet can be used to mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19. The Executive Summary: Child Care Strategy contains the worksheet used in the video.
• Shared Services MA has posted many helpful reopening templates, such as the Classrooms Cleaning Checklist, on their website. Don’t forget, membership is currently free.
• Webinar on Employee Management and Safety Issues, will be held Thursday, June 25th. It is sponsored by Goodwin’s Neighborhood Business Initiative, Children’s Investment Fund, Clifton Larson Allen LLP, and Eastern Bank.
• This week’s Cambridge Directors Support Zoom meeting, led by Bess Emanuel and Polly Smith, (open to all Cambridge directors) is from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. so directors may participate in the UMass Boston webinar mentioned above. Check your email inbox every Friday morning for the Zoom link.

Funding

• EEC will be providing grants to support the initial months of reopening for programs that have current subsidy agreements and enrolled children. Grants will be offered on a per-classroom basis for Group and School Age programs. Information will be posted on this page (under Reopening Grants) as grants become available.
• A survey from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) shows that only 11% of our nation’s child care providers will not survive the pandemic without government support. Click here to express your support of the Child Care Is Essential Act that would create a $50 B child care stabilization fund within the Child Care and Development Block Grant (CBDG) program.

For Teachers

Curriculum Support & Professional Development

• This link takes teachers to a video showing five great games to play with children, physically distanced, that builds self-regulation skills.  

For Families

Activities for Families

• As children return to school, they will have to wait. Parents and with their children can watch this 5-minute NPR video, Cookie Monster Practices Self-Regulation, then practice the strategies Cory, Anya, and Cookie Monster discuss.
• What Comes Next: Back to Child Care Following Shelter in Place offers parents tips for managing the preschool transition post-COVID.

Resources for Families

• Share this flyer about Cambridge’s Summer Food Program with your parents. The food program provides free and nutritionally balanced breakfasts and lunches to anyone under the age of 18.
• CDC's very short video, COVID-19: Managing Anxiety and Stress, offers many ways to reduce stress in adults and children.
• Massachusetts Association for Infant Mental Health has 6 tips on How to Talk to Young Children about Racial Injustice. This handout also offers suggestions on how to respond to difficult questions.
• Zero to Three offers families with children ages two to five thoughtful guidelines for talking about racism and equity in age-appropriate ways.