Dubuque County Family Resource Guide 2020-2021

Dubuque County Early Childhood (DCEC) publishes an annual Family Resource Guide with comprehensive listings of organizations and businesses that offer programs, resources, and products for area families. Click on the following link to download the current DCEC Resource Guide.

St. Mark Program Update: Peosta/Seton Catholic

To our valued parents, partners, and staff,We have been closely and continuously monitoring the COVID-19 situation in our schools and communities we serve. At this time it is St. Mark Youth Enrichment’s goal to do our part in keeping our schools safe throughout the holidays, as safety is our top priority. To maintain safety for our families & staff alike we have decided to suspend in-person programming, with the intent to return in-person on January 11th. Student fees for program will be waived from Nov. 23rd until Jan. 11th, as the St. Mark leadership team foresaw this situation occurring and secured funding for tuition coverage. St. Mark Youth Enrichment will do what it can to support the effort in keeping schools open. We feel that transitioning to a virtual format is the best way to support these efforts. We aim to be as prepared as possible with the expected spike in COVID cases following the holidays. While we understand this may be inconvenient for families, we feel it is the best decision to make at this time for the long-term. Thank you to all of you who are doing your part to keep our community safe! Virtual sessions will occur starting the week of Nov. 30th. A schedule containing virtual session times/dates will be sent later this week. We will also work on adding any families to our Google Classroom platform who have not done so already. Beginning the week of Nov. 30th social-emotional learning bags will start to be delivered to schools weekly to be taken by students at the end of the school day. Learning bags will contain an SEL activity, supplemental materials for virtual sessions, and at times may include basic school supplies. For your reference, I’ve included the initial guidelines below that were shared with all of you previously. Thank you for your support, wishing you well.  Initial Guidelines Shared:  In an effort to keep everyone as informed as possible during this school year we are sharing the following information update related to St. Mark Youth Enrichment’s program operations impacted by COVID-19. As our understanding of the COVID-19 virus and best practices surrounding health and safety are constantly evolving, all guidance is subject to change. In alignment with our top priority of safety for our students and staff, St. Mark is implementing the guidelines below. It is our hope that sharing this with you now will help you to be as prepared as possible for any transitions from St. Mark’s in-person to our interactive virtual model (see description of model below, which will be fully functional by September 21, 2020). In-person programs will transition to our interactive virtual model IF any of the following conditions are met: ●   If any program staff or student tests positive for COVID-19 at an individual site that site will transition to virtual for two weeks (14 calendar days) ●   If 14-day average county positivity rate is >15% or is on a continual climb nearing 15% all sites will transition to virtual until it is deemed safe to transition to in-person programs ●   If district partners request St. Mark NOT provide on-site programming, those specific sites will transition to virtual until it is deemed safe to transition to in-person programs ●   If schools and/or districts transition to a virtual model, those specific sites will transition to virtual programs until it is deemed safe to transition to in-person programs ●   If closure is dictated by state and/or local public health officials all sites will transition to virtual until it is deemed safe to transition to in-person programs  Parents, partners, and staff will be notified via email any time a decision is made to transition to or from our interactive virtual model. Parents will also receive additional notification through Remind texts and Facebook notification.  St. Mark students and staff who meet the CDC definition of being in “close contact” with a program individual who has tested positive for COVID-19 will be informed of this. Per CDC guidelines, these persons would be required to quarantine for 14 days. A “close contact” is defined by the CDC as proximity of 6 feet or less for 15 minutes or more. In an effort to reduce the risk of exposures, only program participants and staff will be allowed into the building/program areas.  The interactive virtual model will ensure we continue to deliver quality, engaging programs that keep students connected to their peers and beloved site teams. As we experienced with the abrupt shut down in March, it is imperative that children stay connected and engaged for their social and emotional wellbeing. In order to ensure sustainability of our programs and employment of our site staff, tuition fees will continue to be billed monthly whether the program is offered in person or virtual for non-21st CCLC grant funded sites.  St. Mark Interactive Virtual Model includes: ●   Weekly supplies for at home activities (to connect with live engagement offered) ●   Supplies conveniently offered for families to pick up at their convenience on a scheduled day of the week ●   Recorded activities and interactive enrichment links that can be accessed at your convenience through Google Classrooms which is by invite only ●   Daily live engagement with site “families” via Zoom and/or Google Classrooms (offered by familiar staff members) ●   Social-emotional support, including materials/activities and St. Mark Buddies for students in need of additional support ●   Homework help  Remember to check our website for information on additional resources: Resources  We are so grateful for your continued support and encouragement as we all walk alongside one another in cultivating the academic and social-emotional growth of all our amazing students. We are committed to being resilient and confident we will prevail over this crisis. And we will do it together with you!  “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal …READ MORE