Columbus parents facing COVID-19 childcare dilemma have new options for online classes
Parents such as Julie Boylan are in a dilemma amid the coronavirus pandemic, but several Columbus organizations are providing a solution.
Because local COVID-19 cases have surged, the Muscogee County School District changed its plan and will open its fall 2020 semester with online-only classes from Aug. 17 through at least Sept. 9.
Boylan works in retail, so she can’t do her job remotely or virtually. Her daughter Nahla, a fourth-grader at Downtown Elementary School, is 9 years old, so she is too young to be home alone. And they don’t have any family or friends in the Columbus area available to supervise Nahla while she does the remote learning on a computer.
All of which makes Boylan grateful the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Chattahoochee Valley will conduct a mini camp for however long MCSD’s online-only period lasts.
Nahla enjoyed participating in the club’s summer camp at the north branch, boosting Boylan’s confidence that her daughter can be safe and on task when school resumes.
“This definitely has helped,” she told the Ledger-Enquirer.
Among the 169 parents or guardians who responded to MCSD’s survey in June, 20% said they didn’t have access to resources and teachers to help their children succeed with remote learning. A similar survey of students, with 167 responses, said 19% don’t have such access.
Talisha Young, the unit director at the North Columbus Boys & Girls Club, sees the summer camp as good training for the staff to be prepared for the online learning mini camp.
“The staff will be there to support the instruction,” she said. “. . . We’ve been hearing a lot of thank-yous, a lot of appreciation.”
Staff and students are required to wear masks. All rooms are set up to accommodate at least 6 feet of social distancing. No more than two children are allowed per table. Activities away from the computer also will keep social-distancing in mind, Young said.
Staff members take each child’s temperature and screen for symptoms before they enter the building. They also require each child to wash their hands at least every hour and to bring their own water bottle.
The north branch had 68 children in the summer program, a sharp drop from the average attendance of 230 in previous years due to the social distancing the club implemented, Young said.
“My biggest fear going into it was that the kids wouldn’t enjoy it because it wasn’t a traditional summer camp,” she said. “But a lot of the kids, they left every day smiling. They had fun, and the staff was able to provide them with things that were engaging.”
Just ask Boylan.
“It’s been awesome,” she said.
Interacting with the staff and other children lifts her daughter’s learning and outlook, Boylan said.
“She comes home happy, tells me about her day,” Boylan said. “Otherwise, before, we were just home. I was trying to think of some things to do every single day, and she was bored.”
YMCA offers classes
The staff at the YMCA of Metropolitan Columbus also will use a similar experience to supervise students during their online-only classes.
When the YMCA closed March 20 due to the coronavirus, it reopened to provide daycare for the children of more than 100 Piedmont Columbus Regional hospital employees. Piedmont’s foundation paid for the program, which averaged 45 children through the end of the school year, Scott Balkcum, senior executive director of the John P. Thayer YMCA branch, said.
It’s one of 14 YMCAs in Georgia that received a waiver from Gov. Brian Kemp’s stay-at-home order to provide childcare for first-responders.
“Stuff like this gets our mission across,” Balkcum said.
He noted the staff had to get used to instructing children to go against the sharing of toys that they had learned before COVID-19 rewrote social rules.
“The children are innocent,” he said. “They don’t know what’s going on in the outside world.”
That’s why, when Balkcum was asked how long the YMCA will offer the virtual learning supervision, he says, “Until the last child is back in school.”
More options for parents
The local chapter of Girls Inc., Enrichment Services Program, Open Door Community House and The Salvation Army also shared their plans with the Ledger-Enquirer about the service they will provide to families.
All the programs provide adult supervision of the students while they attend their online classes on their own computer device or one issued by the school district or the youth organization. They also conduct activities for when they aren’t in front of the screen.
Boys & Girls Clubs
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Students: Grades K-12
Location: Grades K-8 at the East Columbus Boys & Girls Club, 3835 Forrest Road; grades 9-12 at the Teen Center, 200 Clover Ave.
Cost: $50 for annual membership, plus $100 for mini camp.
Register: In person at any club or online at bgc-colsga.org. Registration is full for grades 9-12, but spaces are available for grades K-8.
Masks: Mandatory for staff and students. A mask will be provided for those who arrive without one.
Computers: Provided for students who don’t bring their own.
More info: 706-596-9330
Enrichment Services Program
Hours: 7:45 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Students: Grades K-8
Location: 1700 Boxwood Place
Cost: $400 per month for grades K-5; $300 per month for grades 6-8. Sibling discounts available.
Register: Online at enrichmentservices.org
Masks: Required for staff and students. Provided for those who arrive without one.
Computers: Students must bring a laptop computer.
More info: 706-570-0855 or 706-325-9661
Girls Inc.
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
Students: Grades K-12
Location: Baker Center, 3535 Levy Road; Dorothy Hyatt Center, 4637 Kolb Ave.
Cost: Annual membership $25. Monthly fee $100 for the first girl in a household and $75 for each additional girl. Free for grades 8-12. Financial aid available.
Register: online at girlsinc-columbus.org
Masks: Students and staff required to wear a mask. Masks will be provided for those who arrive without one.
Computers: Students should bring a computer device, but some are available if needed.
More info: 706-683-0809
Open Door Community House
Registration has closed for Open Door’s virtual learning camp, but spaces might open, said executive director Kim Jenkins.
More info: 706-323-5518
The Salvation Army
Hours: 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Students: Pre-kindergarten through eighth grade.
Location: Lovick P. Corn Community Center, 5201 Warm Springs Road.
Register: Packets available at the office Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Registration deadline is Aug. 14.
Cost: Weekly rates are $80 for all-day care (7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.), $60 for morning care (7:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) and $40 for afternoon care (2:30-6 p.m.).
Masks: Students required to wear a mask in the classroom. Staff required to wear a mask throughout the day. Masks provided for those who arrive without one.
Computers: Lab with 18 computers available. Wi-Fi for those who bring their own devices.
More info: 706-561-9026
YMCA
Hours: 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Students: Grades K-12.
Location: A.J. McClung branch, 1175 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.; D.A. Turner branch, 4384 Warm Springs Road; John P. Thayer branch, 24 14th St.
Register: In person at any branch or online at columbusymca.com
Cost: $90 per week for YMCA members, $115 per week for non-members, per child. Financial assistance available.
Masks: Not required but available for those who request one.
Computers: Some devices available for those who request one.
More info: 706-322-8269
This story was originally published August 7, 2020 at 7:00 AM.
