Silver Spring Day School Needs Your Support

The new coronavirus has changed life for all of us. Local businesses have taken a huge economic hit, but communities are finding creative ways to support the establishments they know and love.

In an effort to help local businesses in our communities stay connected and succeed, Patch will shine a light on some of them through a series of Q&A articles during this time.

Silver Spring Day School is one of the businesses in town facing struggles during the coronavirus. You can lend your support by reading more about the company, below, and by contacting them here.

Tell us about your business and its history in your town.

Silver Spring Day School (SSDS) is a play-based, parent-participatory preschool that creates a special partnership among families and highly trained early childhood educators, sharing the belief that young children learn best through play and exploration with the loving and intentional support of the adults in their lives.

Together, we foster the development of strong social-emotional skills, knowing that the ability to get along with others and the development of a strong sense of self are the keys to success in school and in life. Our unique model of parent participation allows families to be an integral part of their children's education, while respecting the many responsibilities busy parents shoulder.

SSDS has been welcoming young children, ages 2 through 5, and their families to our community for over 45 years. Come join us and build relationships that can last a lifetime.

How has the new coronavirus impacted your business and its employees?

SSDS is currently closed due to the state mandate closing all schools. Our faculty and staff are still working, offering online classes, posting videos of stories and providing daily activities to our families. This new mode of teaching has been a steep learning curve for most of our faculty, requiring them to step way outside of their comfort zone and to completely rethink how and what to teach, and yet they have risen to the occasion with grace and commitment to their students.

SSDS will not be collecting tuition for our Early Bird and Extended Day programs during the closure as we felt it was not right to actively charge families for services we cannot currently provide in the same way as we usually would. Our summer program is also in question, as we do not know if the closures will continue or not. We have also had to postpone, and will likely have to cancel our biggest fundraiser of the year — which was intended to raise significant funds for well-deserved bonuses for our faculty and staff at the end of the year. We are hopeful that we will receive a relief grant to cover these loses, and are thankful that SSDS remains sound in spite of these significant loses.

The biggest potential impact is that we are unable to continue our admissions season as we normally would. During these months, we are usually actively meeting with prospective families to tell them about our wonderful school and community. While we are available to meet remotely and are accepting applications, the impact of COVID upon our admissions for 2020-2021 remains a big unknown for us.

How can local customers support you now and in the future?

Even though we are closed, SSDS is actively accepting applications for the 2020-2021 school year. If you or someone you know is looking for a preschool that will not only provide your child with high quality education and a love of learning, but will also provide your family with a community of friends to last a lifetime, please contact us to learn more and apply. We would love to have you.

Do you have any words of encouragement for your community?

We know this is so hard. Our parents are home, many of them working, some of them now unemployed, and all with young children to care for and entertain all day. Our faculty and staff are balancing establishing a whole new way of teaching with supporting their own families at home with them as well. We miss seeing each other in person — relationships are the heart of SSDS.

And yet, we are so happy we have found ways to be together over Zoom, over FaceTime, through video. We have often said that SSDS is a magical place and, alongside the harsh reality of coronavirus quarantine we have been the amazing spirit of our community shine through. Our faculty have demonstrated once again their unending commitment to our families, their passion for early childhood education, and their love of the SSDS community. Together, their innovation and collaboration have enabled us to continue to support our families through this challenging time. Again and again our families have sent us messages and videos, sharing their love of our community and their appreciation for our efforts to keep the connections going.

We may be physically distanced, but we as a community remain strong and committed to each other. The magic of SSDS continues, we will get through this, and we cannot wait to be together in person again.

Are you offering any special services, promotions or hours during this time?

SSDS may be physically closed, but the learning and relationship building continues within our community. Our faculty is providing daily Zoom classes for their students, as well as sending daily activity recommendations to families and recording videos of us reading stories. We are also working to collect lists of resources being offered online for families to help them find activities to help fill the long days. We will soon be offering a weekly yoga/movement/song class for our families, taught by one of our amazing teachers.

Are there any other outstanding businesses in town you think deserve some community support?

One of our amazing parents, Catey Miller, is teaching a kids online yoga class every Monday and Friday from 9:45 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. $12 per family. Learn more here.

Also, check out our Facebook page for the names of the many wonderful businesses who had pledged support to our school's Spring Social. The Supporting Our Supporters posts highlight these businesses and we hope you will support them, too!

Do you own a local business in need of a feature on Patch? Fill out the questions in this form for consideration. Or, check out Patch's full list of resources for small businesses during the coronavirus crisis.

Thank you, and stay safe!