COVID POLICIES AND PRECAUTIONS FOR SUMMER 2021
Updated 6/17/21
As we have always done, we expect to make use of every common sense tool available to us to maintain the health of our camp community this summer. For Covid precautions, we are implementing the following standards which have been developed based on webinars, seminars, and published guidelines of the United States CDC, the State of Maine CDC, the American Camp Nurse Association and the Maine camp directors association, known as Maine Summer Camps. The precautions below apply to all campers and staff members, whether vaccinated or not, and is subject to change as conditions continue to shift in the coming weeks.
PREPARING FOR CAMP
We request all participants AND THEIR FAMILIES to quarantine for 14 days prior coming to camp. (Going to school is fine. We are asking for a curtailment of other non-essential activities and interactions, like social events & meals in restaurants, and keeping a daily log which includes temperature checks, symptom checks and descriptions of interactions.)
We highly recommend getting a Covid vaccine if possible!
The CDC requires a Covid test 3 days before camp opens, with a negative result for admittance. We will also retest everyone after 5 days in camp.
BEGINNING OF SESSION DROP-OFF
Families will be welcomed at the front gate and directed to a health tent station in the staff parking lot, just inside the gate, for camper temperature, symptom and head checks. Parents will have the opportunity to talk with the camp nurses about any special medical considerations for their child at this time. Next, staff members will unload each campers’ luggage onto waiting vans and then escort the camper into camp to meet their counselors and get started with activities. Parents will stay in their cars throughout this process, and once the luggage is unloaded, will be asked to depart camp. We regret not being able to invite parents into camp for our traditional opening day welcome, but we feel this restriction will help us to mitigate possible spread of the virus.
LIFE AT CAMP
We expect to maintain camp as “community in a bubble”, which will include restricting staff leaving camp or interacting with people outside the camp community, no trip days out of camp (in camp recreation days instead), and no parent or family visiting days. Weekly calls home, which would normally happen on trip days, will be coordinated from camp. We are not thrilled about these restrictions, and we know others will not be either, but they will likely be necessary, and will help us to mitigate possible spread of the virus.
Daily precautions, taken by all, will include mask wearing, symptom checking, physical distancing, conducting activities outside as much as possible, using sanitizer located at every door (with a "pump in/pump out” policy: sanitizing when entering and when exiting any indoor space), and dividing campers up into various cohorts for different activities with minimal mixing.
Meals will be served in the dining hall in shifts, with appropriate distancing between cabins, or outside on nearby picnic tables.
We will be adding a health tent adjacent to our regular health center, to accommodate extra traffic as needed, as well as designated quarantine cabins, in case they are needed. There will also be additional medical staff on hand to help out with Covid related monitoring and/or treatment.
Rehearsals and private lessons will be scheduled in such a way as to utilize our large halls for indoor rehearsals with proper distancing and all shutters open, along with several new rehearsal tents for outdoor lessons and meetings. This allows us to utilize proper ventilation in all situations, which is a key mitigation tool. Instrument shields, bell bags and other coverings will be employed as necessary.
END OF SESSION PICK-UP
Reversal of procedures above listed for drop-off day
SUMMARY
By utilizing all of the policies and precautions above, we feel that we can take advantage of our beautiful, outdoor, 67 acre setting to spread people out and allow all of our musical, recreational and social activities to thrive in a healthy, physically distanced way.
We look forward to the summer!
