Horizon has made changes to its COVID-19 policies and procedures. Here’s what you need to know:
Horizon Education Centers’ pandemic hours of operation are 6:30 am to 6:00 pm Monday – Friday.
Drop Off Procedures
All centers are closed to visitors during the pandemic. Parents are not permitted to enter the building unless it’s an emergency.
You will drop off and pick up your children at the front doors of the center. At drop off, pull up to the front doors and your child will receive a health screen before they leave the car. The health screen looks for signs of illness like coughing, sneezing, fever or chills. If your child has any of these symptoms, they won’t be allowed to enter the center. If your child has a fever, please keep them home until they are fever-free for 24 hours without medication.
All school-aged children 5 and up must wear a mask while at the center. Please bring one from home as Horizon does not provide masks.
Once your child completes the health screening and is cleared, they will be escorted to their classroom by a staff member. They will wash their hands before starting their day. You will complete TAPS for attendance from your car. If you need more information about these procedures, please contact your center.
Sanitation Procedures
All Horizon staff members are required to wear masks within the centers. School-aged children 5 and up are required to wear masks. Non-school-aged children are not required to wear face masks but if you want to supply one, we will see that they wear it throughout the day.
All staff has been trained in communicable diseases, which is a licensing requirement through the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Our staff has been also trained on CDC COVID-19 guidelines for disinfecting and cleaning surfaces. These disinfecting and cleaning procedures are done throughout the day. All soft material for play has been removed from our classrooms. For more information on our sanitation procedures please contact a center.
Classroom Procedures
We will continue healthy hygiene throughout the day. Temperatures will be taken at drop off and also after lunch. If your child becomes sick while at the center, they will be removed from the classroom and will be escorted to the staff lounge. A staff member will remain with them until you pick them up. Please pick up your sick child in a timely manner. If your child is not picked up within a 60-minute window, your child's space at the center may be relinquished.
All belongings will be sent home with your child to be laundered. Again, parents will not be permitted within the center unless there is an emergency. When entering the center, parents must wear a face mask.
Please call prior to your arrival so that we can have your child ready to go when you arrive. Remember that children are not permitted to bring anything from home to the center except for their learning devices. This includes water bottles and toys. Water will be provided for children in water jugs and single-serve dixie cups.
We will practice social distancing within the classroom with increased space between learning areas. We have removed all soft material that cannot be sanitized like stuffed animals, cloth dolls and puppets. Napping on cots will be spaced out, children will sleep head to toe.
Large group activities like field trips, graduation ceremonies and assemblies are postponed. Large motor activity rooms will not be used, we will use classroom space for large motor play and utilize classroom games.
Playground space outdoors will be scheduled to maintain social distance between classrooms.
For more information on our sanitation procedures please contact a center.
Mealtime Procedures
Mealtime has changed at Horizon. We no longer allow children to eat family-style. Horizon’s Food Specialist will bring individual plated meals to classroom doors on a cart and the teacher will distribute them to each child. Classes will eat in their classrooms. To stay up-to-date on our COVID-19 safety protocols, please check our COVID-19 page.
