Washington Market School’s Hudson building has reopened after a two-week closure to create a new safety protocol for off-site visits.
To recap, on May 22, during an off-site trip to Washington Market Park, one of the school’s students left the park unaccompanied. The child was found two blocks away by a bystander, who was an employee of a nearby building. The bystander brought him to KinderCare on the corner of Greenwich and Reade.
Immediately after teachers realized he was missing, they began a search, and one teacher was directed by a separate bystander to KinderCare. The teacher was reunited with the child, who was unharmed.
The school immediately reported the incident to the NYC Department of Health, which oversees private pre-schools and daycares. The Health Department conducted an inspection and investigation to confirm the allegations and ordered the program to close on May 28. The school was just given the green light to reopen this week.
The Health Department required that the school revise protocols, re-train staff and pass a reopening inspection.
“Child care programs are required to follow health and safety requirements, including the critical requirement to maintain constant and competent supervision of children,” the department said in a statement. “When the Department finds that a child care program is not safely caring for children, we will require the program to close, and the provider will have to revise protocols and re-train staff. Once the provider demonstrates that it has made improvements and can safely care for children, we will authorize it to reopen.”