Waterbury Recreation creates new camp for K-5 students on remote school days

August 14, 2020  |  By Lisa Scagliotti

Waterbury Recreation continues its summer camp for school-age students through Aug. 28. The department will offer a new program, Waterbury Rec Academy, for students in grades K-5 on remote learning days when school begins next month. Photo by Gordon Miller.

As plans for reopening schools this fall continue to evolve, the Waterbury Recreation Department is launching a weekday camp for approximately 15 students in grades K-5 to help families navigate remote learning days. 

Recreation Director Nick Nadeau said the program will be called Waterbury Rec Academy and it will meet at the Recreation Building at Anderson Park. 

The town Select Board this week gave approval for the new program, the idea for which grew in recent weeks as school officials have begun publicly discussing plans for the new school year which starts Sept. 8.

The Harwood Unified Union School District’s hybrid plan for returning so far calls for preK-12 students attending in person one day per week. Students would do remote learning on the four days they are not in school with some live online instruction time with their teachers on those days, according to plans being discussed as of the start of this week. An alterate option is for students to do all-remote learning.

“It’s leaving a lot of people in the community wondering what they’re going to do with their kids,” Nadeau said. “Many parents are back to working unlike spring when so much was shut down.”

The goals for the new program are to offer needed childcare and assist youngsters with remote learning.  

The focus on reworking logistics for school comes as Vermonters remain vigilant against a resurgence of the COVID-19 virus. The worldwide pandemic’s spread became serious enough to shut down schools in the state in March for the remainder of last academic year. With the spread in Vermont seemingly under control, state leaders have called for the reopening of public schools in September with as much in-person instruction as possible as students and staff adhere to public health guidelines. 

Harwood Union’s administration is emphasizing a gradual return with a goal of full-time in-person learning again but it will begin with a conservative hybrid model. The notion of students attending school just one day per week has sparked a gamut of concerns across the district. Some are concerned about returning to school and risking a new wave of the virus; others, particularly parents who cannot work from home, are scrambling to make plans for the days their children will be learning remotely. 

Nadeau said the new recreation program will be designed to serve exactly that niche. The camp will meet from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Nadeau said he and two of the summer recreation camp counselors will staff it. The councilors are college students studying to become educators and ready for student teaching experience, said Nadeau, who also has a degree in education. The department’s pool director is also a school teacher and is available to consult as needed. 

The Recreation Building has air conditioning and heat, bathrooms and a small kitchen, and it’s located at a park with playground equipment, a field, basketball and tennis courts. 

The building also has internet service for students to get online to connect with their teachers for remote instruction with the counselors assisting where needed, Nadeau explained. 

The camp will accommodate the school schedule, allowing for a lunch break and time for some typical recreation camp activities such as crafts and outside playtime before wrapping up at 1:30, Nadeau said. 

Recreation programs have state guidelines to follow that are similar to those that will be used in school involving group size, distancing, and wearing masks. Children also would need to clear a temperature check and answer some questions upon arrival, Nadeau said. And kids will need to pack a lunch, snack, and the electronic device they need for their school work. 

Nadeau said he recently polled families of the 100 or so children in the summer recreation program on their interest in a program once school begins and all but about 10 said they were interested or wanted more information. The summer program was extended an additional two weeks recently when the start date for school was pushed to Sept. 8. 

On Monday, Select Board members posed some questions to Nadeau, particularly around the camp’s seemingly small size. “Fifteen won’t come close to the demand. I could see 50, 100 kids potentially needing that service,” said board member Mike Bard. 

Nadeau said he would have preferred to offer a program for more students but the key limitation was physical space. The group size was determined based on meeting state public health guidelines using the Recreation Building space, Nadeau said. 

Registration will be done online on the Recreation Department website. The fee will be $25 per day paid in advance.

The Select Board agreed with Municipal Manager Bill Shepeluk called the camp fee “very reasonable” and said he expected the program would at least break even. “We expect demand will be high,” Shepeluk said.

The board unanimously approved the proposal.

For now, Nadeau said he and his staff are prepared to offer the camp for 14 weeks into mid-December, but they will remain flexible should the school district’s plans change and students end up in school for more days sooner. “We would offer a refund,” Nadeau said. 

Registration will be online starting Aug. 24 on a first-come, first-served basis, Nadeau said. More details on Waterbury Rec Academy and registration are available online.