June 10, 2005

Summer fun with the MGH Backup Child Care Center

The warm weather that's finally made its way to New England has many MGH employees thinking about summer vacation — and also about summer childcare arrangements. For many working parents with young children, the coming months can be a challenging time of year with gaps between the end of school and the beginning of summer camp, and regular babysitters aren't always available. Luckily, when it isn't possible to line up time away from work with school vacation and other childcare issues, there is the MGH Back Up Child Care Center.

For children ages 6 to 12, the Backup Center will be offering two vacation clubs — June 20 to July 1 and Aug. 20 to Sept. 2 — as well as a summer fun days curriculum from July 5 to Aug. 19. Both the vacation clubs and summer fun days will provide a range of summer themed activities, including field trips, water days and science explorations. The vacation clubs are charged at a flat rate of $60 per day ($275 per week) and aren't counted toward the Backup Center's limit of 20 visits a year, while summer fun days are offered at the Backup Center's hourly rate and are subject to weekly and yearly limits. Both programs will run from 7:30 am to 6 pm, Monday through Friday.

Backup Center director Patty Pirone emphasizes that MGHers with younger children (15 months to 5 years) will continue to have access to the regular range of programs and services during this time. "The summer curriculum was developed to meet the needs of part-time workers and others with school-aged children who can't take a vacation day every time there is no school," she says. "We're excited about being able to offer something special to fill that void. However, our mission remains providing emergency childcare to employees and patients who need it." During the summer, the Backup Center will be able to accommodate 29 children, including 20 school-aged kids and nine toddlers.

With the exception of the August vacation club, registration for all programs for the entire summer is now available. August vacation club sign-ups will begin in late June. For more information, contact the Backup Center at (617) 724-7100.