Food Service Updates for September 2020
Our goal has been to mitigate the risk factors of operating during this time and, to date, we have been very successful in implementing strong and consistent protocol that has enabled us to keep everyone safe.
The additional preparation and clean-up of two snacks and lunch, over and above sanitizing every room’s toys and furniture throughout each day, as well as both outdoor play spaces between every use, brings about additional challenges. As such, we wanted to be sure to implement the re-introduction of food service safely before proceeding.
After considering all of this, we are working to possibly bring back snacks in September/October, assess the safety aspects once again, and then add lunch back as of October/November; this will be confirmed once we can ensure (between stages) that the added risk is absolutely minimal. We want to be certain we are providing the safest procedures and environment for your child and staff as is possible.
Fees will remain the same, even though we will continue to increase staffing and sanitizing supplies, proceed with applying credits from March to returning families, as well as reimbursing where necessary for those previously set to depart in September due to non-Covid-related situations.
Although we did advise attending families in January 2020 that we would be implementing only our second nominal fee increase since 2015 (to have been effective September 2020), that will no longer be the case. To support our families during this difficult time, we will be holding off on any increase for several months. It will be a few short months without full food service and then it will be re-introduced as soon as safely possible, with no change in fees at this time.
We understand this has been difficult for some, but we are working diligently to keep everyone safe. We want to remain open to continue to provide care for your children and keep moving towards ‘normal’ circumstances as much as possible. All of the team at Steps Academy greatly appreciates everyone’s understanding and support with this process.
With much gratitude,
The Steps Academy Team
The additional preparation and clean-up of two snacks and lunch, over and above sanitizing every room’s toys and furniture throughout each day, as well as both outdoor play spaces between every use, brings about additional challenges. As such, we wanted to be sure to implement the re-introduction of food service safely before proceeding.
After considering all of this, we are working to possibly bring back snacks in September/October, assess the safety aspects once again, and then add lunch back as of October/November; this will be confirmed once we can ensure (between stages) that the added risk is absolutely minimal. We want to be certain we are providing the safest procedures and environment for your child and staff as is possible.
Fees will remain the same, even though we will continue to increase staffing and sanitizing supplies, proceed with applying credits from March to returning families, as well as reimbursing where necessary for those previously set to depart in September due to non-Covid-related situations.
Although we did advise attending families in January 2020 that we would be implementing only our second nominal fee increase since 2015 (to have been effective September 2020), that will no longer be the case. To support our families during this difficult time, we will be holding off on any increase for several months. It will be a few short months without full food service and then it will be re-introduced as soon as safely possible, with no change in fees at this time.
We understand this has been difficult for some, but we are working diligently to keep everyone safe. We want to remain open to continue to provide care for your children and keep moving towards ‘normal’ circumstances as much as possible. All of the team at Steps Academy greatly appreciates everyone’s understanding and support with this process.
With much gratitude,
The Steps Academy Team
If there are any food allergies we ask parents to provide the food on the days our menu may have food that the child is allergic too. The First Steps Academy facility is a nut free area and parents bringing snacks or lunches will be asked to follow procedures to maintain this.
First Steps Academy provides two nutritious snacks and a lunch for our all day programs.
