“I am so grateful to have Launch Emergency Care for my children. Knowing that they’re being cared for by loving staff is beyond reassuring while I have been working as a healthcare provider during this pandemic. Launch is not just a place that has taken care of my kids during this time – the Launch staff have continued my kids’ academic education, nurtured their passions for social justice, and provided enriching and fun activities.” – Launch Parent
Like other essential services, Launch has worked hard to rise to the moment by shifting our core programs to meet community needs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In late March, we quickly reopened 5 of our sites to provide emergency care for children of essential workers for free through June. We adapted our programs to support children and families by adding additional academic content to address COVID learning loss, supporting the social and emotional needs of children, and developing and implementing the strictest safety and health guidelines in close partnership with Seattle-King County Public Health and other emergency childcare providers. We’re proud to have been able to help frontline workers be able to do their jobs and support all of us while having the peace of mind of knowing their children are safe and cared for.
During Summer 2020, we offered 8 weeks of summer camp at 5 locations. While summer looked a little different with social distancing, masks, and health & safety protocols, campers still a blast! They made friends and participated in engaging activities like art, sports, science and more. We adjusted our summer programming to include fun enrichment activities that help support academic and social-emotional skills development so children return to school in the fall ready to learn. And although COVID-19 health and safety precautions mean we couldn’t go on our usual in-person field trips, our teachers created some great virtual field trips and experiences for our campers.
Currently we are providing full-day in-person programs from 8am-6pm for preschool and school-age students, including remote learning support, fun enrichment activities, and social-emotional skills development. Over 70% of our currently enrolled students are the children of essential workers.
Launch COVID-19 Health & Safety Protocols
Launch has implemented strict health & safety measures to ensure the safety of our students, families and staff. The below COVID-19 protocols have been reviewed by our Public Health nurse consultant, and are in alignment with King County Public Health recommendations.
Launch Health & Safety Letter to Families – UPDATED 11/13/20
Daily Emergency Child Care Health & Safety Checklist
Daily Cleaning, Sanitizing, Disinfecting Checklist
Public Health COVID-19 Fact Sheet for Families – UPDATED 2/4/21
Public Health COVID-19 Guidance for Child Care Programs – UPDATED 2/4/21
*DRAFT* COVID-19 Exposure Notification Letter to Families – UPDATED 2/4/21
Public Health Guidance: When to Keep Children at Home -English – UPDATED 2/4/21
Igu hay guriga hadii… -Somali –UPDATED 2/4/21
Mantenme en casa si… – Spanish – UPDATED 2/4/21
Giữ con ở nhà nếu…, Vietnamese – UPDATED 2/4/21
Want to help? Your donation to Launch today will support our COVID-19 response and help ensure children have access to high-quality programs that supports their academic and social-emotional skills development.
For more information about how Launch is responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, please contact info@launchlearning.org.
Looking for care for your child for the 2020-21 school year? Please visit the Forms page of our website for more information about our school year programs, or contact registrationforms@launchlearning.org for space availability and information on the registration process.