CHARLOTTE, N.C. — When the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School district announced it would be all-virtual, the YMCA of Greater Charlotte announced it would be offering back-to-School programming.
Now, five days before the start of the new school year, we know exactly how many students have signed up to participate in the program. Wednesday, WCNC Charlotte was also given an inside look at how they’re setting up for students.
“This weekend we’ll be changing over everything from our camp program that we had into our academic learning spaces,” said Adrianne Hobbs, the YMCA’s Executive Director of Youth Development.
Hobbs said more than 800 students have registered to hold a spot in the program, in addition to an extensive wait-list. The program will be run at 12 YMCA locations between Matthews and Lincoln County. Hobbs said they’re also in talks with area churches as an opportunity to expand participation.
“We are working with a few churches and finalizing agreements and will reach out to families on our waitlist,” said Hobbs.
Because each YMCA location is unique, Hobbs said they’ve purchased plexiglass dividers, “Where we could have two students completing their academic work,” she said.
At the Morrision Family YMCA in Ballantyne, there’s also a handful of classrooms where Hobbs said the ratio will be 10 kids to every 1 teacher. She said temperature checks will be taken every morning and teachers will be in masks, in addition to added sanitizing and cleaning processes.
“8 a.m. to 3 p.m. is the window we’ve established that will be academic time,” she said, adding that from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. will be for enrichment. “Which is where we get to do all of the fun stuff that the Y has to offer, like swimming, outdoor play,” she said.
Hobbs said the YMCA is also hiring multiple positions as they gear up for the school year, including a new role this fall, an academic enrichment coordinator.
“So they’ll come to us with education experience and be able to make sure that we’re thinking through all the nuances that we need to be prepared for, and then also help to provide some of those additional learning activities,” she said.
And some people have been asking, how can the YMCA operate classrooms, but schools can’t? Hobbs said the YMCA branches will serve far fewer students than a typical school, and she said they also don’t provide transportation.
YMCA’s have also been operating summer camps and emergency childcare since March.
“We’ve had some practice, we’re prepared,” said Hobbs.