AUBURN — Auburn Adventures, an Auburn Recreation Dept. program designed to help provide for childcare needs for grades kindergarten through grade six during school remote learning days, will open for registration on Friday, Aug. 28.

The goal of the program is for kids to have a safe place to go during the day while parents work and to be provided with the basic needs: WIFI access, classroom setting with certified helpers while logged into their remote day learning labs, access to food, social interaction, education support, STEM projects and physical activity.

Daily activities will include structured activity blocks from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Study halls will be held daily, designed for when kids log into their school portholes and complete remote day assignments. Outside of school time, kids will be engaged in activities and programs that will address their social, emotion, physical and education needs.

The program will be led by qualified directors who have a minimum of an Ed Tech III certificate or teaching license. There will be an onsite medical provider, and a professional cleaning company will disinfect facilities every night. A COVID-19 plan will be in place to follow Maine CDC guidelines for school time and nonschool time. The program will max out at 80 kids, who will be assigned to a pod of no more than 10, and there will be a 10:1 ratio for kids to counselor.

Parents will be provided a copy of the COVID-19 plan and videos of how a day in the life at Auburn Adventures will run after enrollment. At this time full-day coverage will be offered, but the program will explore before/after school options if space allows or if schools return to in-person learning at any point during the school year.

The program will be open for children of Auburn residents from 7:15 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. from Sept. 14 to June 11 at Hasty Community Center and Ingersoll Turf Facility. There will be three options: parents can sign up for just Wednesdays, a two-day option or a combination. Programmed activities, including study halls, will be held from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Cost is $25 a day. Drop-off and pick-up will be at Ingersoll.

Registration will open on Friday, Aug. 28, at www.auburnrecreation.com or call 207-333-6611. Coordinator is Dawna Daigle, certified Ed Tech III. She can be reached at [email protected].