Huntsville, Madison and Hampton Cove Gymnastics
*UPDATED 10/26/21 I realize I have not updated this page for a while, and I wanted to share my thinking as to what our next step might be. If the hospitalization rate continues to fall, we should consider what our next step might look like. As you may remember, before the Delta variant kicked in, we had reached a point where we felt comfortable allowing fully-vaccinated adults to come inside without a mask. The CDC had approved this in places with lower transmission and positivity rates. Well, that didn't last long as Delta came in and turned everything upside down. However, if we can return to similar conditions, we would look at that protocol again. I will wait until we have clear guidance, but I hope that, if our area drops to below at least 5% positivity rate (3% would be even better), and the hospitalizations drop too, we will get there again. Keep checking back! For now, we are staying with the current advice of the CDC and of our own local hospital and doctors, and all adults are still required to wear a mask while inside, at all three gyms.
Children are not yet required to wear masks while in class, but are certainly encouraged to do so if they wish. We continue to encourage parents to drop off and remain in the car, or leave and return, and we must remind you that only one family member will be able to stay in the viewing area if you do choose to come in for part of the time.
I understand that no-one wants this. I don't want this. But we all share in the responsibility for our fellow customers, co-workers, and our community. I can take some comfort from the fact that the course of action we are proposing follows the recommendations of our nation's leading medical organizations and our local medical professionals.
We believe it has been an important factor in keeping our students, staff and families safe, as well as doing our part for the community. Thank you for all your patience and support. Our families are the best!!!
ARCHIVED NOTES
Please keep taking precautions and we would ask all of you to review the guidelines set out in the COVID Waiver. In particular, we have asked all students to bring a bag for their shoes, water bottles, coats, etc. We are now using the lockers again, but to facilitate cleaning, we ask all students to come with a bag and put everything in that bag before placing it in the locker.
Please take extra care evaluating whether or not your child is fully healthy before coming to class. We have had a few people still sending their children with "a cold" and, although that would normally be acceptable, it is not ok right now. We had two COVID cases reported in which the only symptoms looking back were - you guessed it - "She was feeling a little under the weather - like a mild cold."
It's been a while since our last update, as we all started to adjust to our new routines. We have kept you informed if we have received information of COVID-19 infections that might have affected any of our students. Please continue calling to let us know if you or anyone in your family has been exposed, or may have been exposed. Each case is different, and we want to continue to do everything we can to err on the side of caution.
We will continue to monitor developments. We ask for your cooperation if we should need to change procedures or even to suspend classes again. In particular, we ask everyone to help us out by staying out of the lobby and viewing areas as much as possible. Staying in one place inside for more than 15 minutes has been shown to have a high association with transmission of the virus, so we want as few people congregating as possible. We are permitting family members to stay, subject to space limitations, but must insist on only one family member at this time. Please remain in your cars if at all possible.
Thank you for all of your assistance with this. We have all heard horror stories of conflicts over these policies at other places, and we are very grateful for how supportive and helpful all of you have been. Our philosophy is to always take more precautions, rather than less, and we know that will sometimes feel excessive, but we want to be as careful as our most careful customers would want us to be. Your response to all of this has been fantastic. We are very grateful.
If you or your child has experienced any symptoms relating to COVID-19, such as shortness of breath, coughing, fever, dizziness, or loss of appetite or sense of smell, please stay home and schedule a make-up when you know everything is ok.
We have received a couple of reports from parents along the lines of, "My spouse has a work colleague who may have COVID-19, although we have seen no symptoms in our home." Please call us with anything like this that we might need to know. Often we will simply ask you to wait until test results come back, but sometimes we will need to ask that you stay away for a period of 5 days (the usual incubation period) or even 14 days if we feel it is warranted under the circumstances. And, of course, if anyone in the household does develop symptoms or tests positive, we must require a waiting period of 14 days before returning. We really appreciate all of you keeping us informed: if we look out for one another, we can get through this! We will inform you if someone who has been in the gym at the same time as you or your child becomes a suspected source of infection.
Please feel free to call me to share your thoughts or concerns. Once again, I and all my staff truly appreciate the support you have shown us, and we hope to continue to earn your trust.
James Linderholm
HGC/MGC/HCG
We appreciate the generosity and support of all those who have reached out to us. I can assure you we are all doing fine. Thank you! We especially thank those of you who have committed to support us financially through this. We love our gym family!
