We are looking forward to welcoming our North Okanagan-Shuswap StrongStart families back to our StrongStart programs starting on Thursday, September 23rd. StrongStart is a free early learning program for preschool children, 0 to 5 years old, and their parent or caregiver. There will be COVID-19 guidelines in place at all programs to ensure the safety of our families, StrongStart educators, and school community.
REGISTRATION:
- Registration for all SD83 StrongStart programs will open on Tuesday, September 21st, 2021 and will be ongoing
- If your child was previously registered in a StrongStart program in our district, please call the school to indicate that you and your child are interested in attending the StrongStart program again this school year
- If your child is new to StrongStart, please phone the school to request a time to come in and complete the registration process
- Interested families will need to choose one program to attend as we will not be supporting participation at multiple programs due to COVID-19, at this time
| Community | Location | Days of Operation | StrongStart Educator | Contact |
| Salmon Arm | District Education Support Centre (DESC) | Monday to Friday | Debbie Sprieszl | 250-832-2157 |
| Salmon Arm | South Broadview Elementary School | Monday to Friday | Michelle Russwurm | 250-832-2167 |
| Sicamous | Parkview Elementary School | Monday to Friday | Cori Miller | 250-836-2871 |
| Enderby | M.V.Beattie Elementary School | Monday to Friday | Patti Bliss | 250-838-6434 |
| Armstrong | Highland Park Elementary School | Monday to Friday | Lynn Robitaille | 250-546-8723 |
| North Shuswap | North Shuswap Elementary School | Tuesday & Thursday | TBD | 250-955-2214 |
| Falkland | Falkland Elementary School | Monday, Wednesday, Friday | TBD | 250-379-2320 |
SD83 STRONGSTART PROGRAM GUIDELINES:
- Families will be required to stay at home when sick
- Families will be required to complete a Health Check and sign-in prior to participating in the program each time they attend
- All adults will be required to wear a mask while in the school and StrongStart classroom
- All families will be required to enter the building through a designated StrongStart door
- All participants will be required to follow safe hand hygiene practices: sanitizing/washing hands before entering the school building/StrongStart classroom, before and after eating, after using the washroom, before using shared materials, etc.
- Adults and children are encouraged to respect other people’s personal space
- Enhanced cleaning and disinfecting protocols will be in place
- All programs will follow the current public health guidelines as outlined in Provincial COVID-19 Communicable Disease Guidelines for K-12 School Settings
- All programs will be open on their regular days, but for shorter periods of time (2.5 hours per day) to allow for the enhanced cleaning protocols, contact with families, and attendance scheduling
- All families must be registered prior to attending the program
- Only 6 families may attend a program at one time (a family unit includes 1 adult plus the child(ren) of that family, ages 0 to 5)
- Once families have registered for the program, they will be contacted by the StrongStart Educator to discuss scheduling options for attendance
- Snacks for children will be provided in individual portions and served by the StrongStart Educator
- Coffee/tea will not be provided for adults, at this time, due to the need to wear masks while attending the program
- Outside play and learning time will be encouraged as much as possible
We understand that StrongStart programs look quite different due to COVID-19, but we are doing our best to provide quality early learning programming for families, while ensuring that everyone is safe.
Please contact Jennifer Findlay, District Principal – Early Learning, if you have any questions at jfindlay@sd83.bc.ca