North Highlands childcare center has remained COVID free | #specialneeds | #kids

NORTH HIGHLANDS, Calif. — Although it has become customary to hear that a business or organization has had to shut down due to positive COVID-19 cases, a child care facility in North Highlands has remained COVID-free throughout the pandemic.

The Family Learning Center, 6331 Watt Ave., has been running for 20 years, providing child care to Sacramento families. Pam Walton, one of the directors at the center, said its been difficult maintaining a safe environment, especially on the preschool level.

“But we do it,” Walton said. “Rotating those toys, letting the kids pick them, then washing them again, a lot of hand-washing, learning songs to go with the hand-washing.”

She said the parents have also been honest with them. 

“That’s really a great part, the parents have been honest with their kids about what they’re going through,” Walton said.

Leah Perry has been part of the staff throughout the pandemic and hopes the child care duties of the center aren’t interrupted by mandates from the Center for Disease Control or local health professionals.

“I’ve seen overall mood improve, the more we work with them, I’ve seen their moods change. And I’ve seen them brighten up, and they have more the more excited about coming to school now,” Perry said.

Samantha Kennedy is a mother of two. She said her special needs two-year-old son showed tremendous growth upon returning to the center.

“It really helped, like his speech started improving,” Kennedy said. “So it kind of helped him a little bit be able to talk and interact with others, other students, other peers, which is one of the things that we have had an issue with and I wanted to make sure that he had that interaction with them.”

The school has been without one COVID incident, but Walton stresses that’s not to say students have not had COVID-19 in their families.

The Lost Coast is home to California’s only off-the-grid public school | Bartell’s Backroads