Open House Closed

With sadness, we want to let you know that Open House will be closed the week beginning March 16. We will be closed for the entire week.

We do not have a known case of COVID-19 in our community, but there is a palpable sense of increased anxiety in the air following the WHO’s official declaration of a COVID-19 pandemic and a steady drumbeat of news about cancellations and closings in Brooklyn, in New York City, and across the country. We made the decision in accordance with the CDC’s current framework for implementing strategies to prepare for and mitigate transmission of COVID-19.

Unfortunately, many of our staff must take mass transit to do their work at Open House. The nature of a preschool does not allow working from home as an option. In addition, our school is a gathering place for hundreds of people a day, including staff, children, and their families and caregivers. To facilitate social distancing, our only option is to close.

We recognize the difficulties that our closing places on many families and the sadness your children may feel when they realize they cannot come to school to see their friends. Here is an article that might help you talk with your child. Here’s an article with suggestions on how to structure your child’s day. The NYC Department of Health maintains a website with the latest information on the novel coronavirus.

During this time, we will also continue to rely upon communications from within our community. We ask that all community members share their exposure/infection status with us, as well as letting us know if you are self-quarantining for any reason.

We want to emphasize that there are still no known cases of COVID-19 in the Open House community. We made the decision to close school in the best interest of our community and in response to new developments and changing guidelines from public health authorities. We knew that the situation could change rapidly, and it did. All of us at Open House–the school leadership, the faculty and staff, and the Board of Directors–are committed to doing what is best for our students, their families, and the larger community.

The wellbeing of our school community remains our highest priority. We look forward to reopening soon and will reevaluate the situation next week. We hope that testing will be more widely available, giving us more information to work with.

Be well.

Eileen, Tom & Carey