Milagro Center Announces New 'Virtual School At Milagro'

Now that Palm Beach County schools plan to resume in-person learning on September 21, Milagro Center will be reopening its 3 Centers for afterschool programs for all ages and offering elementary school families the option of sending their children to their S.T.A.R.S. Center for carefully supervised and teacher-assisted school-based virtual learning during the school day, the nonprofit organization announced today.

"Virtual School at Milagro Center" for students in grades K-5 will start at the Center on Monday, September 21, 2020 at 7:30 a.m. Drop-off cut-off is at 10:00 a.m., according to Barbara Stark, President and CEO of Milagro Center.

"Parents, guardians and of course, students are struggling to adjust to the new school year," said Stark. "Our community is facing challenges with virtual learning, the requirements within the school district, and struggling to return to work full-time. Because of this, we want to offer our underserved families a more controlled, safer, and secure day-time learning environment for their K-5th graders rather than the option of returning to the public school campuses."

While attending the on-site "Virtual School at Milagro Center", elementary school students will have the benefit of assistance and instruction from the Center's academic teachers to help them with their schoolwork and to navigate the technology, Stark added.

Milagro Center will be instituting the following procedural measures and guidelines for its new "Virtual School at Milagro" and afterschool programs:

• Students and staff will be temperature checked and asked Covid19 symptom and exposure related questions before entering the building.
• Students and staff must wash/sanitize hands before entering.
• No family members, guests, or unnecessary personnel will be allowed to enter the building (only STARS students). Volunteer Mentor meet-ups will continue virtually at this time.
• All students and staff will be required to wear face masks. Staff is also required to wear face shields.
• Students will not share supplies. Each student will have their own individual box of supplies.
• Each classroom group will have a maximum of 10 students and siblings will be grouped together.
• Students will not change classroom spaces. This will keep children from mixing while in groups.
• Lunch will be held within your child's assigned classroom and group.
• Individual student desks are spaced 6 feet apart.
• Social distancing will continue even while children are allowed outdoor time. They will not use the playground, instead socially distanced games or activities will take place.
• Some classes will be held outside.
• Partitions/Dividers have been set up throughout the building to help keep children separated when walking to the restrooms.
• Sanitizing stations have been placed at the entrance of each class.
• One-on-One lessons will continue to be held virtually.
• Sanitizing and disinfecting of the building and high-touch areas will take place once every 2 hours and each evening after closing.
• All parent/Center transactions are all electronic.

Milagro Center's Junior Teen Leadership and Teen Leadership academic and cultural arts afterschool programs also resume on-site on Monday at the Virginia & Harvey Kimmel Milagro Junior Teen Center and Milagro's Teen Center both located on SW 6th Avenue. Virtual learning classes, which Milagro Center began offering in mid-March when Palm Beach County schools closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will be continuing while in-person sessions resume for those youth who prefer to be engaged with teachers and tutors on-site.

"We are looking forward to welcoming back all of our afterschool children and teens to our elementary school, middle school and high school Centers," said Stark. "We've stayed connected to them all through our remote learning classes and sessions in the spring and throughout the summer, but that's very different from seeing and experiencing their joy as they re-enter our Milagro buildings, re-connecting with their teachers, friends, and our Milagro family."

For more information about Milagro Center and its "Virtual Learning at Milagro" and afterschool programs, contact the center at (561) 279-2970 or visit www.milagrocenter.org.

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