OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Sprouts Learning Center and Child Care near 60th and Maple is open.
"We've been here since July 2015," said director Andrea Baker. "I serve ages 6-weeks up to 12-years-old. We travel to about 14 different schools in the neighborhood, dropping off kids back and forth from school. We do provide transportation from school and to home also."
That transportation has decreased significantly in the past few months due to COVID-19.
So has the number of students Baker has seen in her classrooms. Before the pandemic, she had about 90 who attended her childcare throughout the day. In mid-March, that number dropped significantly.
"We were only dealing with 10 to 12 children and those are because I have parents who work at the post office, I have parents who work at nursing homes, people that are janitors at apartment buildings. They still had to go to work," Baker said. "And that was my biggest concern. I didn't want to close because I knew these people still had to get to work. In addition, I still wanted my people to have a job."
Now as more businesses reopen, she's back up to around 45 kids, and to ensure they're healthy and safe, and that of her staff, she's implemented new practices such as her staff wearing masks.
"We are taking everybody's temperatures, coming in and out the door," Baker said. "I have not done any tours. We normally have parents call and come in and look around and look at the building. I'm very leery about that. I still haven't done tours when the children are here. I've done all tours on the weekend."
"We're documenting hand washing," Baker added. "We're washing hands every one to two hours, depending on what activity we're doing and documenting everything."
"They drop their kids off at the front door," Bakers said. "Staff will come in and greet them at the door while we take the children and come around and do the temperature, but the parents are not allowed to come past the front door at this time."
Baker says they're also disinfecting all learning toys and materials at least twice a day and anyone who changes rooms must rewash their hands.
They've also incorporated some new learning material, to help teach kids in a lighthearted way about mask use, germs and the pandemic.
"They're settled into our routine," Baker said. "They know the routine. You come in the door, and one of the little ones try and run through without taking their temperature the older ones will say, 'Hey come back here, we gotta wash your hands.' They are very settled into their routine."
Sprouts Learning Center and Child Care
Location: 4411 N 61st St. Omaha, NE 68104
Phone: (402) 991-3937
Hours: Mon-Fri. 5:30am - 10pm
Sat. 5:30am - 5pm
Sun. - Closed
