We hope this message finds each of you healthy and well. After careful review of the Covid-19 restrictions and requirements, as well as numerous conversations with the Holland Central School District, the Boys & Girls Club of Holland has decided to open for programming this Fall. The format will be different than our traditional drop-in program, as members will need to be placed into pods of fifteen that will rotate throughout the various activities available in our facility.
The Club will be offering two programs: * 2nd-4th grade Before School Program from 8:00-10:00 a.m. to assist with the school’s staggered arrival times * 2nd-8th grade After School Program from 12:30-6:00 p.m. to assist with the middle school’s earlier dismissal time
Both programs will run Monday-Friday on days that school is in session. Enrollment for the Before School Program will be limited to 30 youth per day and the After School Program will be limited to 75 youth per day (30 from the MS and 45 from the ES). To start the school year, only youth who physically attended school that day will be eligible to attend in the afternoons, but that may change based on participation.
Club Staff will employ and manage all of the Covid-19 safety protocols that we have put in place to keep our members and staff safe while they are in our care. These include: weekly health and wellness checks, daily temperature scans, the wearing of masks by both staff and members, increased hand washing/hand sanitizing, increased cleaning and disinfecting, and social distancing. Our success at Town of Holland Recreation this summer has us very optimistic that we can take what we employed and learned at Rec about mitigating the spread of the virus and apply it to keeping our kids safe moving forward.
The Club has always prided ourselves on being able to offer a quality program for a modest annual membership fee of $125. For MANY reasons, we must increase our fees and change our payment structure this school year. In order to comply with Covid-19 restrictions and CDC requirements and to ensure the safety of our kids and staff, we will actually need more staff to serve less kids. Due to the creation of a before school program, coupled with the earlier dismissal of the middle school, these additional staff will be working many more hours.
The two biggest revenue sources for our Club’s operating budget are government grants and special events. Both of these categories will be SIGNIFICANTLY impacted this school year. So because of the need to increase staffing, -and the anticipated loss of income, we have shifted to a monthly membership format. The fee for the Before School Program will be $30 per month per child and the fee for the After School Program will be $60 per month per child. All fees will be automatic credit/debit card draws, on the first of each month.
We understand this represents a significant increase. However, these additional funds will ensure our continued support of the needs of our community and maintain our organization's stability during these most uncertain times. Also, as it ALWAYS has been the case since this organization was formed nearly fifty years ago, no child will be turned away due to an inability to pay. Full and partial scholarships will be available. Forms are also available at the Club.