New Fall Day Camps And Afterschool Care In Missoula Start Sept. 28

Missoula MT

24 September, 2020

12:25 PM

Description

Press release from the City of Missoula: September 22, 2020 Please join us this fall for BASE Camp Missoula beginning Monday, September 28. In these new fall day camps and afterschool care, kids will be outdoors and active as much as possible, with art and science-based activities and projects in the mix to keep kids engaged during out-of-school time. Share The Fun Youth Recreation Grants are available. BASE Camp is offered both full and half-days with a mixture of park-based activities, remote learning time, plus adventures and field trips for greater exploration. Schedules will vary day to day and be weather-dependent. Each day will be filled with the activities that your kids have come to love. Online registration is the easiest way to register, or you may call 721-PARK or stop by Currents Aquatics Center (masks required.) New schedule beginning Sept. 28 Schedule through Sept. 25. If you don't have a current Webtrac account, please email [email protected] before registering to get your account set up. City residents can ensure they have renewed their resident discount cards for 2020 by phoning us at 721-PARK (7275.) After consultation with the Missoula City-County Health Department, we have designed the day camp program to be attended by students from any school, as in our summer day camp program. Camps will meet in small, static groups with the same staff for the duration of the program to limit interaction among groups and facilitate contact tracing if needed. Staff will make every effort to enforce disease prevention best practices, including physical distancing whenever possible, masking when in close proximity, regular hand sanitation, and sanitation of shared equipment and surfaces. Afterschool and out-of-school time programming In a collaborative effort with MCPS to limit afterschool interaction between students from different schools, we have reduced the number of schools we serve for afterschool programming. Afterschool programs at Paxson, Lewis and Clark and Rattlesnake Elementary are open only to students who've attended those schools on the day of the program. Afterschool programming at other MCPS elementary schools may be available from other community providers. Additional information is posted at the City-County COVID-19 Joint Information Center's website: https://covid19.missoula.co/schoolschildcareuniversity. Remote learning Day camps will include 1-2 hours per day of facilitated time to work on homework, read, or play educational games. If you'd like your child to complete his or her schoolwork during this time, please send learning materials to camp with your child. For students who don't bring schoolwork, we will provide games and books to work on basic academic achievement. While Parks and Recreation is not an education provider, we're supporting remote learning by providing students time to work on assignments. We will not have access to computers during the September programs, but we hope to be able to facilitate technology-based academics later in the year. Pick-up and drop-off times are extended for full-day programs to give students more time for remote learning at home before or after the camp day. Drop off – between 8-9:30 a.m. Pick up – between 4-5:30 p.m. Social and emotional learning Play, adventure, and experiential learning have long been our standard approach to education. This will continue to be a strong component of our fall programming. Research is clear—kids learn through play. COVID-19 Prevention Staff and campers must wear masks when physical distancing is not possible and when in transport vans. Parents must wear masks at pick-up and drop-off due to the proximity of others. Staff will facilitate frequent hand washing and adequate hand sanitation. Programming will be held outdoors whenever possible—please dress kids appropriately for the weather. Questions, concerns? Please email Recreation Manager Meg Whicher at [email protected] or phone 721-PARK (7275.) This press release was produced by the City of Missoula. The views expressed here are the author's own.