COVID Camp Safety Protocols

Keeping Our Spaces Safe

To host in-person events safely and in accordance with recommendations from the Ohio Department of Health and the CDC, we have adopted the following:

• • Our HVAC system has been cleaned and tuned in preparation for summer classes to maximize the amount of fresh air circulating in the building.

• • Nightly cleaning of all learning spaces, bathrooms, hallways, elevators, and shared areas.

• • Drinking fountains will not be used; instead, touch-free water bottle fillers will be available.

• • Door handles, light switches, and other high-touch surfaces will be sanitized frequently with CDC- and EPA-recommended disinfectants.

• • Each learning space will operate at reduced capacity to allow for social distancing while still providing space for students to move freely and create. Capacity numbers may fluctuate in accordance with the Ohio Department of Health’s guidelines for group sizes.

— Junior Summer Stock capacity will be 10-20 total, including staff (reduced from 20-30).

— High School Intensive capacity will be 10–15, including staff (reduced from 20-30).

— Technical Theatre Intensive capacity will be 10–15, including staff (reduced from 20-30).

Keeping Our Students and Staff Safe

We can offer videos, a social narrative, and class discussions to help students prepare for and understand the importance of these in-person guidelines and are happy to work with families to support their student’s individual needs to observe these guidelines. For the safety of all students and staff, campers who refuse to wear their masks, wash their hands, or observe social distancing will be dismissed from camp.

Social distancing
In accordance with guidelines recommended by the CDC and Ohio Department of Health, staff and students will observe social distancing of 6 feet. Markers on the floor will help young people maintain social distance.

We will be utilizing a pod model to limit contact and the chance of exposure among students. Pods will share an entrance/exit location and times, bathrooms, and traffic patterns.

Face masks
Face masks are required for all campers, staff, and parents/guardians. Camp participants and staff may only remove masks to eat and drink. In accordance with CDC recommendations, we require that fabric face masks have two layers of fabric and be fitted to closely cover an individual’s nose and mouth. Face shields may be worn in addition to masks but may not be worn instead of masks.

Learn more from the CDC about how to find the best mask for your student.

Drop-off and pick-up
Drop-off and pick-up will occur outside to limit the number of people entering the building. Students being picked up early will be brought outside to meet their adults. Per recommendations from the Ohio Department of Health, only students and camp staff will be authorized to enter learning spaces this summer.

All in-person summer camp students and staff will complete a daily symptom questionnaire and temperature check upon arrival. Temperature checks will be done with a contactless thermometer.

No one with a temperature above 100.4° will be permitted to enter the building. Following a fever of greater than 100.4°, a person must wait 72 hours before returning to the building. We ask families to utilize the Ohio Department of Health’s Home Screen Tool for COVID-19 Symptoms daily for those attending in-person camp.

A designated, isolated space will be allocated for quarantining anyone who develops symptoms consistent with COVID-19 during the camp day until they are able to be picked up.

Shared Food
We will enforce our “no food sharing” policy to protect students from allergens, food sensitivities, and dietary restrictions as well as COVID-19 spread.

Hand washing and sanitizing
Hand sanitizer will be available in all learning spaces and campers will be reminded to wash their hands and sanitize frequently. Staff and students must sanitize or wash their hands at the start of the camp day, before and after eating (including two snack breaks and a lunch break), and before leaving.

Keeping Our Families Involved

Registered families will be sent an overview of policies and expectations in advance of their first camp day. These will include an overview of our policies, an outline of the schedule for your student’s program, a social narrative for our safety policies, a social narrative guide of the spaces your student will be using, and an introduction for your students to meet their teaching team.

Register with Confidence

As COVID-19 evolves, we will continue to monitor data and recommendations provided to us by the CDC, Ohio Department of Health, and local leadership. If any in-person summer camps must be canceled due to increased cases, changes in regulations, or an infected student or staff member, families will be offered a refund if the camp has not yet started or a pro-rated refund if the camp has begun.

If an in-person camp closes due to COVID-19, we will provide an option to families to transition to a virtual option. Virtual offerings will be a combination of synchronous engagement via Zoom, asynchronous sharing and creation on Flipgrid, and off-screen activities. However, we recognize that virtual learning is not the best fit for each student, is not appropriate for full-day engagement, and does not serve as supervision in the same way our in-person camps do.

In Case of Infection or Exposure

We will be following the Ohio Department of Health’s Protecting Children COVID-19 Checklist if an individual involved in our in-person summer camps experiences one or more symptoms consistent with COVID-19 or has come in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.

ETC reserves the right to cancel any in-person programming due to an increase in local cases, updated recommendations/regulations from the CDC, Ohio Department of Health, or local leaders, or because of the exposure or infection of any participant or staff member.

Families will be contacted about suspected exposure, confirmed exposure, presentation of symptoms consistent with COVID-19, and positive COVID-19 cases in accordance with and guidelines from the Ohio Department of Health.

Preparing Your Student for In-Person Camp

If wearing a mask all day will be new for your student, have them practice wearing a mask at home for increasingly longer durations working up to the length of a full camp day. We recommend practicing different activities while wearing the mask including moving around, having conversations, and playing games.

Review the policies we have in place with your student and discuss why they are important.

COVID-19 Refund Policy

A refund will be offered if ETC cancels an in-person camp before the first day of programming or if your student or a member of your family or close contact tests positive for COVID-19 prior to the start of camp.

A refund minus the cancellation fee ($100 for two-week camps; $50 for one-week camps) will be given if you cancel more than two weeks before your camp begins.

If ETC makes the decision to end in-person instruction of a camp after that camp has begun, a prorated refund will be offered. The amount of the prorated refund will depend on how many days of in-person camp have been canceled and whether you choose to join a virtual option to continue the camp. Families may also choose to have their remaining tuition processed as a credit on their ETC account for a future purchase or donate the remaining balance.