Daycare closed due to weather: How to Prepare Your Daycare For Snow Closures and Keep Parents, Staff Informed

How to Prepare Your Daycare For Snow Closures and Keep Parents, Staff Informed

Did you know that 39 states get at least five inches of snow per year? That means that a majority of Americans live in places where snow closures are, at the very least, a possibility.

As a child care center owner, you need to be prepared!

Let’s discuss when to call a snow day and four ways to prepare your child care center for snow closures.

When to Call a Snow Day

So when should you close your daycare because of snow? It’s a difficult question to answer because there are so many different factors to consider.

An inch of snow in Colorado isn’t a big deal. The Mile High City is used to this kind of weather and is equipped to handle it. The same can’t be said for other cities, though, where an inch of snow might cause a flurry of snow closures.

When deciding whether or not to call a snow day, consider the safety of your teachers and the families you serve. Will they be able to get to your center without incident? If the answer is no, call a snow day. If the answer is yes, carry on as you normally would.

We also suggest keeping an eye on the public schools in your area. If the buses are running, there’s a good chance that the roads are safe enough to drive. If they’re not, it’s probably a good idea to close down your child care center until the weather improves.

Pro Tip: Snow closure decisions should be made in the early morning rather than the night before. This will allow you to account for current conditions.

Alexander Graham Bell once said that “before anything else, preparation is the key to success.” The question is, how do you prepare for snow closures? 

These four tips will help:

1. Set Snow Closure Policies

You should set snow closure policies for your child care center well before you need them. That way the families you serve know what to expect and aren’t thrown for a loop when the snow rolls in and you shut down operations for the day.

Your snow closure policy should have these five elements:

Explain How Your Decision to Close is Made: List the things that factor into your decision to call a snow day. Information about current road conditions, the build-up of snow and ice, temperature and wind chill, the expected forecast, building and parking lot conditions are all valid factors and can be used to determine when you close your center and for how long.

Detail Who Makes the Decision to Close: State who is responsible for snow closure decisions. Is it you, the owner of your daycare center? If you have multiple locations, do you let each director under you make the call for themselves? Include these details for parents in your snow closure policy.

Set Deadlines for Making a Decision: When will parents know if your center is closed for the day? As mentioned earlier, we suggest making an early morning decision to account for the latest conditions. Just make it early enough that parents can make alternate plans if necessary.

Describe How Early Dismissals Will Work: Weather can be extremely hard to predict — just ask your local meteorologist. There’s a chance that you’ll open your daycare in the morning, conditions will worsen and you’ll have to dismiss kids early so that everyone can get home before the brunt of the storm hits. Information about this potential scenario should be included in your snow closure policy.

Explain How Snow Closures Affect Fees: Finally, make it clear to parents how your center handles snow closures in terms of finances. Will they receive a refund for the missed day(s)? In most cases, the answer is no. Many child care centers do not offer refunds for snow closures. This helps them continue to pay their staff. But you need to make a decision for your own center and then state it in your snow closure policy.

Once you’ve drafted your snow closure policy, make sure it’s accessible to parents. Post it on your website, include it in enrollment paperwork and send it in an email blast.

2. Keep Parents Updated

It’s important to communicate with parents at all times. But it’s especially important to prioritize communication before, during and after snow closures. 

Parents shouldn’t have to ask, “Should I take my kids to daycare today?” or “I wonder when the child care center will open back up?” They shouldn’t have to ask about these things because you’ll keep them updated and give them the answers they need.

Keep an eye on the weather forecast during the winter months. If snow is expected, contact parents and let them know that a snow closure is a possibility. If you do have to close your center, give parents real-time updates as to when you might reopen.

3. Help Families Plan for a Snow Day

The weather is anything but predictable, which can make planning ahead a little tricky. If you have a sneaking suspicion that a snow closure is coming, do the families you serve a favor and send kids home with activities the day before.

For example, you could send kids home with the materials they’ll need to complete a fun craft or the directions to an inside game they can play during the snowstorm. Another idea is a list of movies you recommend they watch on Netflix, Disney Plus or another streaming service.

If you want to remain hands on, plan Zoom meetings during snow closures. That way you can read to kids or sing songs with them and give their frazzled parents a break.

Does planning ahead take extra effort? Yes. Will it be worth the trouble? YES!

Parents pay you to watch their kids because they have other responsibilities to attend to during the day. They’re not used to managing these responsibilities and their children, which means snow closures are often tough to deal with.

If you can relieve their stress by planning a few activities for them to do with their children, they’ll be incredibly grateful and much more likely to continue patronizing your business. They’ll be more willing to spread the word about your daycare to others, too.

4. Coordinate With Your Staff

Parents aren’t the only ones you need to communicate with during snow closures. You need to keep your staff updated as well. For example, your teachers should know:

• If They Need to Come in to Work: When you tell parents that your daycare is closed, make sure you tell your staff, too. The earlier in the morning you do this, the better.
• When the Snow Closure Will End: Tell your staff when you expect to open your daycare again. If you don’t know, promise to keep them updated.
• What to Do While They’re at Home: Just because your teachers can’t come to work doesn’t mean they can’t do anything. Assign them tasks they can do from home, such as leading Zoom meetings or planning next week’s craft time.
• If They Can Expect a Normal Paycheck: Does your child care center pay staff during snow closures? Make sure your employees know so they can plan accordingly.

Bring your staff into the decision-making process and ask them for their opinions. Think about how far they have to drive to get to work and how the weather conditions will affect their commute. Doing so will make them feel like valued members of your team.

How Software Helps Communicate With Parents

One of the best ways to stay in touch with parents during a snow closure is with Procare’s parent engagement app. This tool makes it easy to share important information with the parents and families in your child care center through easy, two-way communication.

How engaged with your parents are you? Take our quiz to find out!

With Procare Parent Engagement, you can:

• Offer contactless check-in/out with GPS-enabled technology and/or QR codes  
• Share daily activities, photos and videos 
• Create and distribute customized newsletters 
• Connect activities to state or Montessori learning standards 
• Share and sign documents digitally with our eDocuments feature 

Check out this video to learn more!

Inclement Weather –

We love a snowy day!

General Policy
Delayed Openings Details
Closing for the Day Details

Little Huskies Policy

Gretchen’s House has great concern for the health and safety of the parents, staff and children as they travel to and from the centers, particularly in winter. Gretchen’s House will, therefore, either close the centers or have a delayed opening on days that the Ann Arbor Public Schools close for inclement weather or dangerous temperatures, or if there is a power outage or other “disaster” beyond our control.

We use several methods to issue notices:

Text Message, Phone Calls & Email Notifications

• All staff and parent phone numbers and emails are automatically entered in our OneCallNow service, and we will use this to send notices of unexpected closings for any reason.
•  You will also be able to sign up to receive text messages through OneCallNow as well
• We post a notice on our facebook page.

When the Ann Arbor Public Schools close due to inclement weather, Gretchen’s House will

• have a delayed opening,
• open at our usual time or
• be closed all day.

In the event of an unexpected closing or delay, staff and families will be notified by phone, email and/or text by the One Call Now service.   In addition, closing information will be posted on the Gretchen’s House Facebook page.

back to top

When we have a delayed opening:

• Lunch will be prepared as usual, though the menu items may differ from the schedule if necessary.
• Care for School Age children will begin at noon. Kindergarten and School age children wishing to come to Gretchen’s House on an inclement weather day for hours they are not normally in attendance must call the center after 10:00 a.m. to check for availability.
• All centers will close at the regular closing time of 5:00. Parents are asked to pick up their children at their own regular pick-up time (many children are picked up before 5:00) since those staff who normally leave by 5:00 may still need to leave at their scheduled time to meet other commitments (college classes, second job, etc.).
• If the weather takes a turn for the worse, the centers may call parents to require an early pick-up.

back to top

When the centers are closed all day:

• Parent will be notified by the OneCallNow system. Please speak to your center Director to receive the information and link on how to sign up for specialized settings.
• Gretchen’s House teachers are not permitted to care for children from the centers if we are closed due to inclement weather or dangerous temperatures. The teachers are being paid for this time and are therefore expected to do additional planning and preparation at home.
• Parents who wish to share child care with other Gretchen’s House parents on these days can put their names on our co-op list and coordinate this care themselves.

back to top

Inclement Weather — Little Huskies
Little Huskies will close when Michigan Tech is closed. On mornings with inclement weather, please listen to local radio stations that announce school closings. If the Houghton/Keweenaw area schools close for the day, Little Huskies will automatically have a 10:00 a. m. delayed opening. Parents can call our Snow Emergency Hotline (906.487.1010) for updates on closings when inclement weather is expected or on-going.

back to top

back to top

when children can’t walk in the cold☘️, the optimal temperature for children to walk

Contents

1. Is it possible to go for walks with a child in frost
2. When it is possible not to attend kindergarten or school
3. Parents’ comments

With climate warming

in winter we can never wait for the cold and snow. Some winters surprise with record high temperatures, when for all three months children do not see snow, and adults walk in autumn jackets. But this year the winter pleased with the abundance of snow and bitter cold. And we, unprepared, look with horror at the thermometer, the column of which falls below -15 degrees, and do not understand how we can live in such winter weather. nine0014

Is it possible to go for a walk with a child in the cold

When adults are used to warm winter weather, it becomes a real challenge for them to get to kindergarten in the morning or just go to the store with a baby. It seems that fresh frosty air is good for the child’s body, but, on the other hand, are there any restrictions on walking? After all, even a warmly dressed child can get frostbite, not to mention his heat-loving parents.

According to the sanitary standards that Russian kindergartens adhere to, the walk should be short if the air temperature drops below -15 degrees and the wind speed is at least 7 km/sec. Babies up to 3.5-4 years old should not be taken out for a walk in frost and strong wind, and older children (from 5 to 7 years old) should not be taken outside if it is twenty degrees below zero. nine0003

Last year, new sanitary standards were adopted, but nothing was said about winter walks. However, pediatricians recommend that parents stay at home with their children if it is cold and windy outside. See also: Winter fun: 60 games to play with children

When you can not attend kindergarten or school

There are no generally accepted standards for attending educational institutions and kindergartens in Russia. Each region is given the freedom to decide whether to close a school or kindergarten during severe frosts or not. This year, the authorities of Chelyabinsk, Tyumen and some other regions closed schools and kindergartens due to weather conditions. nine0003

As a general rule, kindergarteners and elementary school students can stay at home if the air temperature drops below -20-25 degrees. Middle and high school students do not study when it is cold outside – 26-31 degrees.

Note! In Moscow, educational institutions adhere to the standards of sanitary norms, and in Krasnodar, lessons can be canceled already at a temperature of -15 degrees.

In Yakutia, they are used to the cold, so students can not attend school only when the thermometer drops below 42-45 degrees. nine0040

Read also: How to take care of children’s shoes in winter and properly clean them from salt and dirt

Parents’ reviews We work, and there is no one to sit at home with him.

But when the air temperature dropped to -27 degrees, and a strong wind picked up, my husband and I decided to leave our son at home. And then in the general chat, the teacher wrote that the kindergarten would be closed. We need to drive to the kindergarten for about 15 minutes, and it’s not a fact that the car would start in such a frost. In general, they took a day off from work and stayed at home. nine0014

Svetlana, Minsk:

“We haven’t had a winter like this year for a very long time. On New Year’s Eve it rained, and then the frost hit sharply. The eldest daughter canceled lessons at school, but the kindergarten continued to work. Theoretically, we could take the youngest son to the group, but the parents unsubscribed that no one was going to take the children in such weather. Now it is warmer, -15 degrees, so we plan to start visiting the garden.”

Ekaterina, Moscow:

“From birth, I take my daughter for a walk every day, before lunch and in the evening. My daughter will soon be 2 years old, she loves walking very much. But when it’s cold outside, we stay at home. Despite the fact that we use protective creams, the baby’s cheeks are covered with a red crust from the wind and begin to peel off. My organism in general hardly transfers a frost and a wind. It immediately becomes difficult for me to breathe, my head begins to spin. Although we dress warmly, this does not save in severe frost. It’s better to sit out such weather at home, and go for a walk when there is snow and a slight minus. nine0014