YMCA aims to help fill day care gap with ‘Virtual Learning Centers’

While the YMCA has always offered day care, this year — with coronavirus turning schools remote — things look a little different.

With so many kids at home all day instead of at school, the YMCA of Snohomish County is offering Virtual Learning Centers at otherwise unused school buildings to help kids learn to use video calls and get their schoolwork done while their parents are at work.

“Having a lot of information of schools not reopening and doing remote learning, the YMCA knew that it needed to do something to try to provide for the families that are struggling out there to try to get back to a normal schedule,” said Donny Willeto, director of mission advancement for the YMCA of Snohomish County. “So we had changed what was usually our school-age child care program to Virtual Learning Centers.”

This comes at a time when one-fifth of Washington’s child care centers remain closed, and experts are warning that the state could be on the brink of an even bigger day care shortage than there was before COVID-19 hit.

Washington day care expert says we’re heading for even bigger void in care

Willeto said the YMCA is already “in general the largest child care provider in the nation,” but this new program expands upon what was already in place. Previous programs provided day care for kids through fifth grade, but this year’s Virtual Learning Centers cater to students through middle school years, up to ninth grade.

“It’s still kind of the same process — the same child care that we’ve already provided — but we’ve stepped up in our partnerships and the offerings that we have for these Virtual Learning Centers,” she explained.

Though this learning often takes place in otherwise empty school buildings, precautions are in place, such as keeping kids in small groups and distanced from each other, requiring masks above the age of two, and making parents drop kids off outdoors instead of coming in.

Regular day care for kids who are not yet at school age is generally not held at school campuses. The middle school version of the learning centers will be at YMCA branches rather than school buildings.

Willeto said other YMCAs around the state and nation are offering similar day care.

Parents can choose how many days a week to send their child. In Snohomish County, the price ranges from about $150 per month if you’re sending your child one day per week, to about $800 for all five days per week. Financial assistance is available for families in need.

For more information, visit the YMCA of Snohomish County’s website.

The City of Seattle is also offering child care and virtual learning options.

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