June 2020: A Note from Hope — I have had the privilege of working on the PR and marketing campaign for entrepreneur Jen Moore three Kiddie Academy® franchises since 2019. This mom of four kids (one who is in the cast of Disney’s Bunk’d) is the CEO of the Moore Real Estate Group, based about 30 miles east of Lost Angeles.
Then, in 2017, Jen, and her business partner and husband Matt, got the inkling to expand their development firm by purchasing and building a Kiddie Academy franchise in the tony town of Rancho Cucamonga. It took a while to secure the property, finalize the construction and break ground. By February 2020, they officially open the state-of-the-art educational preschool. Then, Corona struck.
“We wanted to stay open for the children of first responders, and did manage to do so,” explains Jen. “But certainly, this threw us a curve ball.”
The Gift of Giving Back
In addition to the Academy in Rancho Cucamonga, Jen and Matt spent 2019 purchasing and opening preschools in two other LA towns: Fontana and Pasadena. With all three locations lagging in students during the pandemic, the clever, generous couple did what they could — they began a face mask project.
The issue: “At the start of the pandemic there was an urgent shortage of high-grade protective masks that hospital staff need immediately, and they are depending on the community to step up and help,” explains Jen, and on behalf of the hundreds of preschool students they teach at her three schools (in Pasadena, Fontana, and Rancho Cucamonga, CA), Jen and her husband and co-owner Matt began delivering thousands of KN95 masks to medical centers in the region — Kaiser Permanente in Pasadena and Fontana, Huntington Hospital, Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Pasadena and San Antonio Hospital in Upland, CA.
The facts in March 2020: The lack of masks for healthcare workers on the front lines is a more challenging problem than Jen and Matt realize. “Before we began delivering the masks last week, we knew this was an important thing to do, but until we met the medical professionals at the hospitals we had no idea how concerned the medical professionals are about not having enough of the proper protective gear that will help keep them safe,” explains Jen. “To make matters worse, some patients being treated are testing negative for Covid-19, but then the test is coming back positive the next day. As a result, the staff without masks are being exposed potentially multiple times every day.”
One LA doctor reported: “Due to the N95 shortage, frontline healthcare workers taking direct care of COVID-19 patients are going into patient rooms with simple surgical masks that do not provide the same level of protection as N95s. Those with N95s are reusing one mask across several days, storing them in brown paper bags for reuse. Some of my colleagues go as far as taking these one-time-use masks and baking it in their home oven for sterilization. We have run out of sterilizing wipes and now rely on buckets of towels soaked in cleaning solution to decontaminate our work areas. I personally know of many healthcare providers falling ill and even lost one nurse to COVID-19 related death. Similar tragedies like this one is happening in hospitals all throughout America. It is sad and unacceptable that healthcare workers cannot protect themselves and are dying while trying to take care of your loved ones.”
A nurse explained: Like most other hospitals, we are using one mask usually per day with a maximum of five reuses and then reprocessing them for recirculation. This is far from ideal. What’s worse is that not every department has access to these more protective masks but continue to handle and transport ill patients. This is putting everyone in the hospital at risk, and also making their families at home vulnerable.”
The owners of Kiddie Academy remain optimistic. “In the packages are thank you cards to the health care workers handwritten by our preschoolers, and we hope that will at least provide some joy to those on the front lines,” says Matt Moore. “Although the kids are young, they are making a difference by helping local doctors and nurses in their community. Participation in this effort is part of their character development.”
Staying supportive and keeping their doors open to the children of healthcare workers: Matt and Jen’s three Kiddie Academies continue to remain open during the pandemic to serve the children of essential workers. All three of the Moore’s schools are also accepting school-age children displaced by school closures, in addition to infants to preschool age children. Deep discounts are available for the children of healthcare workers and first responders. For additional information, send an email to matt.moore@kiddieacademy.net.
Safety First: As Kiddie Academy begins to open its doors again, it maintains strict guidelines for providing a sanitary environment including reduced child-to-teacher ratios, frequent hand washing procedures, continual professional sanitizing of the facility including toys and equipment and enforcing a strict no-sick policy with all children.
Another option: “Preschool At Home.” This program is available for children unable to attend during Safer At Home order but would still like to participate actively in curriculum. Classes are held Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm at 169 N Halstead St, Pasadena, CA 91107. Reserve your spot: 626-606-2800 or send questions via email to: pasadena@kiddieacademy.net.