COVID-19 Protocols & Preparations
Covid - 19 Addendum to Ballet Petit’s Usual Policies and Procedures
Update on 10/4/2021 of 7/27/2021 copy
At the time this is being written, these are the current, additional policies and procedures that need to be followed.As time goes on, there will likely be adjustments, additions, deletions, etc., as local Health Department guidelines and other events occur.In the meantime, we encourage everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated for Covid-19.At this time, the majority of our eligible dancers are vaccinated.Our entire staff is fully vaccinated.
Ballet Petit reopened for Summer Session and In Person classes on July 6, 2021 after a 16 month closure.In addition to Summer Session, we also hosted the Oakland Ballet Company Summer Dance Intensive for 2 weeks in July 2021.During that time, we were able to evaluate our Covid protocols and make adjustments, as needed.
By now, we are one month into our Fall / Nutcracker Session and things are going well. Classes have been well attended.Parents are following our protocols, as well as our dancers.When reminders need to be sent, they are being received with the intention they are given- for everyone’s benefit.Thank you. Thank you for your cooperation, vigilance, and pro-active behavior to help keep us all safe and healthy, as well as to keep Ballet Petit open.
We understand that many are very tired of Covid restrictions, but until we are all the way through this, we must stick together and follow CDC Guidelines, etc.We are still learning about Covid-19 and will need to make adjustments as we go along.Covid - 19 is also changing itself from time to time.Everyone needs to cooperate. By entering Ballet Petit, you are agreeing to follow our protocols, etc. at all times.
How dancers and their families come and go at Ballet Petit has been changed to reduce community spread, allow for social distancing, provide safety for our dancers and families.Everyone is expected to comply with all procedures.Dancers and others not complying will be warned, educated, and then removed from our program if those measures do not demonstrate compliance moving forward.We understand there is still a lot we don’t know, and opinions vary.However, in our common space at Ballet Petit, the only way we can be safely open on site is with 100% compliance to the current guidelines.It has been long and tragic year.Opening on-site is an important step that we have taken with care and caution.We would like to keep it that way and continue to move forward.
I will continue to remind everyone that NO ONE has secret powers that assure them that THEY are not asymptomatic carriers of the virus, vaccinated or not.The science has shown us that vaccination is the strongest way to reduce severe illness, hospitalization, and death by Covid.Breakthrough infections will happen, as they have historically with other diseases and vaccinations.With the latest surge, additional information continues to be learned about the virus.We will continue to follow the science and learn more.
Anyone who appears to be experiencing Covid-19 symptoms is to stay home.Everyone who enters our space at Ballet Petit must be free of Covid-19 symptoms.If a dancer becomes ill while at Ballet Petit, the dancer will be isolated and the parent will be called.Parents must come immediately to pick up their ill child, or send a representative to do so.
Everyone entering the building must wear a mask over their nose and mouth for the entire time inside.Only necessary/ essential people should enter Ballet Petit during these restrictive times.
For now, only ONE parent/adult will be permitted to observe classes and accompany the dancer until all Covid restrictions are lifted, such as social distancing, etc..If additional adult family members wish to observe, they may rotate out, but only bring one into the building at a time.
Note that siblings are not to enter the building at this time, unless they are Ballet Petit enrolled students.We understand this can be tricky. If your younger children do not have anyone to watch them at home, a parent may drop off their dancer with one child, but must then exit the building with the non-enrolled child until class is over.Realize that until children under 12 can be vaccinated, which seems likely to be soon, we need to minimize possible transmissions and exposures however we can, especially for our younger dancers and medically compromised.Even then, we will still do what Health Officials advise are our best protections against Covid to keep everyone safe.
Staff will take the temperature of dancers as they enter the studios for classes.Dancers will wait, socially distanced, in the designated spaces outside of the studios.
Dressing Rooms are currently closed.Once we reopen them, they are to be used quickly,. Even when that happens, dancers may not hang out in the dressing Rooms until Covid eases further.Our gender neutral rest rooms need to be used for toilet needs, not dressing.
Dancers are encouraged to bring their own filled water bottles.The water fountains have been disabled, per County guidelines.They will be turned back on at a later date, when it is deemed safe by County Health professionals.
Dancers must wear masks covering their nose and mouth at all times while in class and in the building.Staff will always wear masks on site during business hours.Some usually closed doors may be opened during classes for ventilation and hands free use, but do not indicate that people may enter or exit through them.
Attached to this document now are two new documents that the Alameda County Office of Education is using in schools.The documents are the latest ones from the California Public Health Department. The first is a flow chart for Parents of Students detailing what to do if your child is has symptoms, exposed to Covid, and then what.The Modified Quarantine document is the second one from the same agency, also being used in our local school districts.You may have seen these from your child’s school.We are sharing these with you as a guide for what happens at school, which then affects ballet classes.We are considered an “extra curricular activity”.
This document and these attachments will be uploaded to our website, as well as sent out to the BP Parent Email Group.We will post this update at Ballet Petit, as well.Thank you for staying updated.We cannot rely on old information, as we have learned more and more as people have suffered, died, survived, recovered, been asymptomatic and didn’t know, and so on… Stay informed so we can keep dancing, living, and breathing safely.
Ballet Petit now has REME HALO LED Surface and Air Purifiers installed in all 8 HV/AC units throughout the building to help keep our air safe and clean. We turn them on when anyone is in the building.We can’t see them, but they are working.(We can hear the fan operating in Studio A!)
Staff and older dancers will wipe down ballet barres and common surfaces with disinfectant wipes after classes as groups change.This make take 5 minutes off the end and / or beginning of classes.
Each ballet studio has had the floor and barres marked off for social distancing in classes.In Studios B, C, and D, additional portables have been provided for smaller / younger dancers.Dancers will utilize these spacing protocols to maintain safe spaces between them and staff during all classes.Ballet classes will be modified to exclude close contact and certain movements that would increase exposure.
These are the protocols at the moment they were written and printed.They will change. Additional Covid protocols, adjustments, etc. will be emailed to families via the BP Parent Email List. You are required to stay informed. These protocols were reviewed and updated on 10/4/2021.
Note that you signed at the bottom of the Dancer Registration form to Acknowledge Receipt and Agreement with Ballet Petit Covid Protocols.
It is your responsibility to stay informed as we make decisions to loosen or tighten our Covid protocols.The above information was updated on 10/04/21 from the original document from July 27, 2021.
Ballet Petit cannot be expected to predict how the pandemic will proceed.Everyone is expected to make adjustments as we need and to act responsibly for the greater good.Luckily, this should not be a problem for our wonderful Ballet Petit community.
PARENTS COVID FLOWCHART
modified quarantine information
Ballet Petit has taken great care to prepare the studio for re-opening, including social distancing markers, a front desk sneeze guard, new barres, modified traffic patterns in/out of the studio, and a state of the art air purifying system.
