Day care centers in New Jersey are optimistic about reopening and serving their communities again, but some are finding that parents may not be rushing to send their children back.
"It's definitely going to negatively impact us to a great extent for a while," said Maria Hughes, director of Les Enfants, a preschool childcare center and summer camp in Palisades Park. "I'm hoping once families see that we can do this safely, they'll consider sending their children back to us."
On June 15, day care centers will be able to reopen as long as they follow new safety guidelines set by the state. They will do temperature checks on staff and children every day, and parents will not be allowed indoors after dropping off children. Only 10 people can stay in a room at a single time and there must be 10 feet of space between each group.
Sharing of food, art supplies and toys must also be limited, according to the new state guidelines. Field trips are prohibited, while physical contact, such as hugging, wrestling, or games of tag, are "strictly limited and discouraged."
Before the coronavirus forced it to close in March, Itsy Bitsy Early Learning Center, a Fort Lee day care for children ages 2 months to 3 years old, had about 23 children attending daily, including a full infant room with a waiting list, said director Susana Mantrana.
Despite the green light from the state, Mantrana said parents are still nervous about bringing their children. About 70% of parents who use Itsy Bitsy Early Learning Center want to wait to see how things turn out before sending their children back. .
"That’s a situation that many daycares are finding themselves in," Mantrana said.
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Many parents are still working from home at the moment, lessening the need for day care, she said.
Mantrana said she is happy that Gov. Phil Murphy authorized the reopening of day care centers, since many are struggling to stay afloat, but was still "a bit apprehensive" about how staff and children will be able to social distance.
"For me, how am I supposed to keep social distancing [for children] that are infants and toddlers?" she said. "They’re not understanding what’s happening and they’re not allowed to wear facemasks."
Face masks and fears
The “new normal” at day care centers will be difficult for younger children who may not understand the ramifications of the pandemic.
"They’re being greeted by someone with a face shield and mask," said Mantrana. "It can be a little overwhelming for a child. Honestly, that’s one of my big concerns. These precautions are necessary, but at the same time, I feel for the children."
Les Enfants, which usually serves about 70 children, will be opening its summer camp on June 22. Hughes is confident that their location can open safely.
"We need to learn how to deal with this situation," Hughes said. "There are so many things we do on a daily basis that would prevent the spread of illness already."
Handwashing and toy sanitation was already a staple at the center, even before the facility was closed by Murphy’s executive order in March, said Hughes. While the new state guidelines are already "tough," Hughes said her facility plans to go "over and beyond" what the guidelines are requiring.
Itsy Bitsy Early Learning Center and Les Enfants both plan to provide children with their own art boxes — no sharing allowed — while all soft toys, which are difficult to disinfect, will be removed. Les Enfants will also make sure groups remain the same throughout the day, so there is less contact between people in the building.
Hughes said she’s heard mixed feelings from parents about their children wearing face masks. She said the center will encourage the masks for children, but if it causes the children to touch their faces more, she’ll recommend that children not wear them.
"If we keep on touching it to put it back on, we're defeating the purpose," she said.
A large number of families are nervous about putting their children into any kind of group setting at Les Enfants, a fear that Hughes said she understands. Fewer than 20 parents have told Hughes that they plan to return, with many others saying they plan to return in a few months.
"Everyone has to do what's best for them,"Hughes said.
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About 400 day care centers at KinderCare, a national operator with about 50 locations in New Jersey, were able to remain open in the past few months in the Northeast, which helped them finalize their own safety guidelines, said Nicole Itani, regional Northeast vice president for the company.
Among the other steps, their locations will make temperature checks throughout the day and limit the number of groups that interact with each other.
"We’re able to take what we learned while operating through the pandemic to be able to multiply that as we open other centers," said Itani.
Lynette Galante, the director of Future Generation day care center in Bloomfield, said it was one of 533 day cares in the state that was certified to stay open during the pandemic to take care of the children of essential employees.
“There are over 4,200 licensed childcare centers in the state of New Jersey, so that number is pretty extreme to see cut,” said Galante.
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While operating the emergency day care center, Future Generation has followed the state guidelines and taken extra steps to ensure safety. Every child brings a second pair of shoes that stay at the center and they are required to take off their outdoor shoes as soon as they enter the building.
"You can tell by the research that [the virus] was ending up in hospitals that patients haven’t been," said Galante. "The theory is that it was tracked on people’s feet, which is why we change our shoes."
Galante, who also serves as vice president of the New Jersey Childcare Association and a secretary for the National Association for Early Learning Leaders, has shared her experience running an emergency day care center with facilities across the state.
Galante said social distancing is hard to adapt to mentally, since as an industry, staff at childcare centers tend to be affectionate. Children are being taught that as much as they want to high-five and hug their friends, they must do it from afar right now.
"We don’t like the term 'social distancing' because we can still be social, we just have to physically distance ourselves from each other," said Galante. "We nurture children all day long so to remove that, it’s a little bit challenging."
Stephanie Noda is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: noda@northjersey.com Twitter: @snoda11
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