COVID-19 FAQs

During the 2022-23 school year, all centers are open Monday – Friday. Hours of operation are as follows:
JCYS Buffalo Grove: 7:15 am – 5:30 pm
JCYS Highland Park: 7:30 am – 5:30 pm
JCYS Lincoln Square: 7:30 am – 5:30 pm
JCYS Wicker Park: 7:30 am – 5:30 pm

Summer 2022
JCYS is offering full-day, half-day, and extended-day (select locations only) early childhood education. We are also offering full-day school-age camp programs. Before and After Camp Care is available for school-age campers.

Fall/Spring
JCYS is offering full-day, half-day, and extended-day (select locations only) early childhood education for the school year. We are also offering Before and After School Care (select locations only).

You should contact the center director to let them know as soon as possible after symptoms develop and/or your child receives a positive test result.

If your child is 2 or older, they must stay home and isolate for 5 full days. Day 1 is the first full day after a positive test result or after symptoms develop. Your child can return to school/camp on Day 6 if they are fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication and symptoms have improved. Masking is mandatory Days 6-10 post-isolation.

If your child is under 2, they must isolate for a full 10 days.

JCYS facilities are mask-recommended.

Masking is mandatory on Days 6-10 post-isolation for individuals ages 2 and up who are returning to a JCYS center after isolating for 5 days. Masking is recommended for close contacts for 10 days post-exposure.

We stopped performing COVID screenings of staff, students, or visitors prior to their entering the building in Summer 2021.

It is important to remember to continue to monitor your children for fever and COVID-19 symptoms each morning before school. If your children exhibit any of the following symptoms, please do not send them to school.

• Sore throat
• Cough
• Headache
• Fever of 100.4 or higher or chills
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• Extreme fatigue
• Muscle or body aches
• New loss of taste or smell
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea

When you sign your child in every morning, you self-certify that your child does not have a temperature and exhibits no known symptoms of COVID-19 by indicating so in a column on the sign-in sheet. Staff and visitors also self-certify.

Household close contacts should monitor for symptoms and isolate if symptoms develop. Masking is strongly encouraged for close contacts through Day 10 post-exposure for all individuals ages 2 and older.

All close contacts may continue to attend school/work without interruption post-exposure as long as they remain symptom-free.

Individuals should provide two negative COVID-19 test results. These tests should be taken on Days 3 and 5 post-exposure.

• JCYS will identify exposure and test dates in written communication to all close contacts.
• Rapid antigen tests are acceptable.
  • Parents of children under the age of 2 should consult their physician prior to administering an at-home antigen test.
• JCYS does not provide testing kits, and the cost of testing is the responsibility of the individual and not JCYS.
• Positive test results should be reported to the Center Director.

Masking is strongly encouraged for close contacts through Day 10 post-exposure for all individuals ages 2 and up.

In the event of an outbreak (3 or more cases in a classroom), mandatory testing may be implemented.

Yes, there are a few instances:

• Your child is exhibiting symptoms of COVID-19.
• Your child is an unvaccinated household contact.
• Your child is non-compliant with testing. If individuals identified as eligible for testing decline to test, the individual will no longer be eligible and must quarantine per the household exposure guidelines.

• Families within the classroom of a household close contact will not be notified.
• Families within the classroom of a positive case if the positive individual was in the center within 24 hours of symptom onset, or a positive test result, will be notified.

Children will be isolated from their class with a staff member until picked up within a one-hour timeframe. The child will have to remain at home until they are healthy and for the time specified in the sick policy.

Children and staff will continue to practice and observe safe handwashing practices. Throughout the day, all door handles, and high-touch points will be cleaned. All cleaning practices will continue to be observed within the classrooms. In addition, we will ask that children do not bring in any additional toys or lovies into the classroom. Blankets that can stay at school will be stored in their inside cubbies. There will be 30 minutes between each classroom’s use of outdoor areas per DCFS.

Additionally, as an added precaution and cleaning measure, we will be using an electrostatic sprayer once a week when no children or staff members are present. Electrostatic spray surface cleaning is the process of spraying an electrostatically charged mist onto surfaces and objects. Because the particles in the spray are positively charged, they cling to and coat any surface they’re aimed at. For awkwardly shaped objects or hard to reach places, cleaning staff only have to point and spray; the nature of the mist allows it to coat surfaces evenly, and envelope objects—even if the mist is only sprayed from one side. After the spray is applied, the sanitizing agent works to disinfect the covered surfaces.

The 2022-23 Parent Financial Policy can be viewed here.

Mandated COVID-19 Related School Closures
The COVID-19 pandemic continues to present such significant hardship for our families that JCYS
has decided to address it differently from our regular policy toward tuition/fee reductions. These
COVID-related policies are designed to do the best we can to ease the burden to families while still
ensuring we can continue to operate. We recognize this will still be difficult for some of our families.
We are doing what we can both to support our families and pay our fixed costs including, to the
degree possible, employee pay.

Definition of “closure”
For the purpose of this policy, a closure will consist of either a single classroom closure or multiple
closures, each within 30 days of the prior closure. For example, a ten-day period will consist of either a single classroom closure for ten consecutive days or multiple closures totaling ten days, each within 30 days of the prior closure. Likewise, a two-month period will consist of either a single classroom closure of two months or multiple closures, each within 30 days of the prior closure, totaling two months.

Short-term closures
For a classroom closure, as defined above, that is ten days or less in duration, no credits or refunds
will be given. Any subsequent COVID-related closure that is more than 30 days after the last one will count as the beginning of a new ten-day period.

Long-term closures
If a classroom closure, as defined above, is greater than ten days, families will receive a 60% tuition
credit for every paid week beyond the first two weeks. If the classroom must remain closed longer
than two months, families will be credited in full for any tuition paid for any part of the period of
closure thereafter. Credit will be issued to your family’s account for the applicable time frame, which
may be refunded if not used for future programming or the credit may be donated back to JCYS.
The table below summarizes the guidelines laid out in the above paragraphs: