Back in mid March we thought we would be suspending classes for maybe two weeks, then it turned into six weeks and then 2 1/2 months. Who could have ever anticipated the way COVID 19 has impacted all of our lives.
We have missed all our parents and students so much! We are so glad as of June 1 we can open our studio back up, with precautions. We are being very careful in our sanitizing practices. One of the things that has happened is no parents waiting in the lobby. I have to admit I miss our parents chatting on the bench. I hope someday in the future we will be able to have our happy crowd back in the studio while our students take their classes.
In the meantime, we are sanitizing the studio before and after every use, wiping down the doors, spraying students hands with sanitizer before and after class, and keeping belongings and drinks separated for each student. The drinking fountain is off limits, and the bathrooms are sanitized hourly, or after each use. Doors are wiped down after the start of the class, and again before the class ends. We now have a door for entry and a door for exit. I don't know about all of you but one of the hardest things for me to get used to has been the directional isles in the grocery store, and I chuckle that now we are doing the same thing here at our studio.
We know we have the best students of any dance studio, but after this situation, I think we have incredible parents. As we have tried to stay in touch, there are things that have happened and such care has been given that it brought tears to our eyes. Hoping to keep a business going has been very stressful, but into this stress have come many funny memes that have made us laugh. After all, laughter is the best medicine for any situation and brings a little sunshine. I especially liked the facebook posts about toilet paper. I salute you mothers who have stepped up to be teachers, physical ed coaches, activities director and so many other roles in your families.
Luckily for us, we put into place a contingency plan in case we had to be closed for an extended period of time and just moved everything forward. So now April is June, May Is July, and August 4 and August 5 is our recital. Our landlord was good to work with us and gave us some time to get things addressed. Although we enjoyed the time to spend with our families, there comes a point where you just want to get back to a normal schedule in life. We were at that point, just needing to get back to some semblance of normal. Of course, life will never look the same as the life we had before COVID 19 came along, but we are aiming for a "new normal".
So as we go forward into June, we are excited to welcome all of you back to dance!