Sapience’s   response  to  COVID-19

Our Sapience family is just that—a family made of students, teachers, parents, and the communities we serve. The education, health, safety, and overall well-being of our family, and yours, is always our top priority.

At Sapience, our interests have always been what is best for the children. That belief applies just as much to their health and safety as it does with their academic progress. With that in mind, we would like to take a few moments to detail the procedures we are taking to ensure a clean, sanitary environment for every student, so that you can have absolute peace of mind when they’re at our learning center. We are responding to new information as it arrives, and we will continue our efforts to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to sanitary practices. Here are some of the enhanced procedures we have implemented:

1. Educated all staff members on proper disinfecting, sanitization, and prevention techniques in line with CDC recommended standards.
2. Mandate hand-washing every hour and between tasks for all staff.
3. Increased disinfection routines for all the common-use surfaces, such as tables, chairs, desks, and shelves. This includes regular wipe-downs with disinfectant solutions between each session as well as deep cleaning at the end of every day.
4. Provided hand-sanitizer stations easily available in each room throughout the learning center.
5. Created simple, picture tutorials for proper hand-washing procedure to help teach children the most effective, thorough techniques.
6. Begin enforcing check-in procedures for all students including mandatory hand sanitization before entering.
7. Created detailed, rigorous cleaning schedules for all surfaces in our center and made those schedules publicly available in order to increase personal accountability for the staff as well as transparency for parents.
8. Supplied students and teachers with plastic shoe booties to prevent the spread of any outside contaminants.
9. Changed our policies regarding eating in the learning center. Outside foods are only allowed at a small, designated area, which is to be cleaned and disinfected before and after using. Snacks or candies given in the center are not allowed to be consumed on the premises.
10. Adjusted our policy of common-use supplies. Pencils, erasers, etc, will no longer be common use, but instead we are asking students to bring their own. An unused one will also be supplied upon request, for the students to keep. Abacus tools will be available for rent, but must be disinfected before and after the class.

In addition to these new practices, we would ask that parents work with us to create a safe learning environment for all involved. This includes following all recommended CDC guidelines, which can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/ and summarized below:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.
• Follows CDC’s recommendations for using a facemask.
     o CDC does not recommend that people who are well wear a facemask to protect themselves from respiratory diseases
   o Facemasks should be used by people who show symptoms of respiratory disease to help prevent the spread of the disease to others. The use of facemasks is also crucial for health workers and people who are taking care of someone in close settings, such as a home or health care facility.
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.
    o If soap and water is not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty.

We are also asking for parent support in keeping our learning centers as clean, hygienic, and sanitary as possible. This includes asking parents to keep their students home if they exhibit any symptoms of illness. In order to assist parents with this as best we can, we are suspending our late-cancellation fees, all cancelled classes will be rescheduled completely free of charge. We appreciate your cooperation in this regard.

You can stay informed of any updates and changes to our sanitization policies at www.thesapience.com/sanitization.

If you have any concerns, questions, or further suggestions, please email us at info@thesapience.com

Sincerely,
Vishal Chamaria
Founder
The Sapience