As of Tuesday, August 11, 2020

On Monday, August 10 we had our first confirmed case of Covid-19 within our program.  We have contacted both the Department of Public Health & Human Services, as well as our State licensor, and both have stated that we are within reason to remain open at this time.  With that, we do feel it is important to keep our parents as informed as possible regarding the topic to ensure they have the information necessary to be comfortable and confident with their child care arrangements.  

While this is our first case, we can be all but certain that it will not be our last.  With that, we are asking for the parents cooperation and consideration to assist us in keeping the number of cases as low as possible.  We ask that you continue taking your child's temperature each morning prior to dropping them off.  If they have a fever and/or they exhibit any other signs or symptoms consistent with the virus, please do not bring them to school!  

We understand that everyone has different views & expectations in regards to Covid-19 because everyone is affected differently.  Some families may have members with increased risk factors or are immunocompromised, and thus feel that it is safest to keep their children home during these times.   Please keep Cindy apprised of your intentions moving forward. 

Please check back periodically, as we will continue to post updates as new information arises.

Thank you!

As of Thursday, April 23, 2020

After a tremendous amount of thought and consideration for everyone concerned I have made the decision to not reopen DDC until 5/4.  There were a variety of factors that I felt were important to evaluate in making that decision and I honestly feel that it is in the best interest of everyone concerned to wait until then.  

We have numerous of our parents who are teachers who most likely will not return to their classrooms until fall.  We have 40+ Kindergarten eligible children, some of them who have school age siblings who will be remaining home due to the school closures, so they will not be back indefinitely.  And of course, there are still many who will remain working remotely from their homes. Regardless of which week we reopen, our numbers will be drastically reduced due to the Pandemic. 
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Once we do reopen, I will be pulling all of my staff off of unemployment, therefore, full tuitions will resume effective 5/4/2020 moving forward in order to meet those payroll obligations. 

There are many families who could or would have utilized DDC next week. However, there are still many families who will not return to work until 5/4, per Governor Bullock. With that, I feel that reopening on 4/27 would only cause further and continued financial burden to those families.

Thank you in advance for your understanding and consideration during this time of uncertainty. 

As of Sunday, April 19, 2020

There is the potential that some business closures may be lifted after Friday, April 24.  This action by Governor Bullock requires us to consider when the time will be appropriate for Discovery to reopen for business as usual.  In making that decision, it is imperative that we receive Parent feedback ASAP to help us make the decision that will best suit the vast majority of our Discovery families.  From a Parents perspective, it would not be financially beneficial for us to reopen as early as April 27 if the majority of the families are not needing care yet, as the weekly retaining fees would no longer apply once the facility reopens.

​Please email billingsdiscovery@me.com ASAP with your intentions so we can make that decision for everyone concerned no later than Friday, April 24. 

As of Thursday, April 9, 2020

Due to Governor Bullocks extension regarding the closures, Discovery will remain closed at least through April 24.  We will continue to update the website as information becomes available.

As of Monday, March 23, 2020

After a tremendous amount of thought and consideration, we have determined a temporary closure is in the best interest for the families and staff of Discovery.

As you may recall, Governor Bullock's announcement of mandatory school closures came on the evening of Sunday, March 15.  Given that, we did not feel that it would be fair to close the following morning since we were unable to notify our families.  While our enrollment last week was not at capacity, it was busy enough to justify keeping our doors open.  The same cannot be said this week.   

With that, Discovery will be closed effective Wednesday, March 25 until further notice.  Please check the website regularly for updates as to when that might be!  ​​

Tuition information:

• March 16-20:  Standard tuition rates apply, as Discovery was open and available

• For the week of March 23-27, and those thereafter:  We will not be charging families their full weekly tuition.  Instead, we will be implementing a weekly fee which will retain your child's enrollment status within Discovery.  I'm sure we can all agree that this is by no means ideal, but given the situation, it is really the only option that will allow us to re-open once this has all passed.  Despite our closure, there will still be various financial obligations to fulfill in order to keep the business afloat (mortgage, utilities, employee healthcare premiums, quarterly taxes, payroll taxes, fire/liability/unemployment insurances, etc).  Unfortunately, those obligations simply cannot be met if the business is not generating at least some sort of revenue.  The weekly retainer is not included in your current contractural obligation, and you are by no means required to provide this payment.  However, by choosing not to, you will be forfeiting your child's space within our program.  The weekly fee will be equivalent to that of one daily rate of care per week, per child.

Please send Cindy an email at billingsdiscovery@me.com to let her know of you intend on retaining your child's space by paying the weekly retaining fee, so she can plan accord  If you have any questions regarding the tuitions, please feel free to call or email us!