Our Early Education Center reopened on June 22 with COVID-19 health and safety measures in place to provide a clean and safe environment for the children from six months to 4 years old who are once again in our care.
“We are very excited to see the children’s smiling faces again and we’re looking forward to a fun and safe summer together,” said Early Education Center Director Gail Alford. The Center was closed on March 23 in compliance with a COVID-19 directive from New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and has now reopened with new state guidelines in place.
The Early Education Center is state-licensed and Alford said ACS is following all the health and safety recommendations issued by the NJ Department of Children and Family Services in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Alford said enhanced cleaning and safety measures include a wellness checkpoint when children and staff arrive in the morning, teachers and aides wearing masks when indoors, and hourly sanitation of common areas.
“We’re spending lots of time with the children outdoors every day in the sunshine and fresh air,” Alford said. The Center’s summer theme is “Down the Shore” and hallways and classrooms are colorfully decorated to replicate scenes at the Jersey Shore.
Alford said there are some limited openings in the Center’s Summer Program, which will run until August 21. The Center is open from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Mondays through Fridays.
CLICK HERE to register for the Early Ed Summer Program or contact Admissions Director Jessica Martin at jmartin@acseht.org for more information.
We’re hiring! ACS is now seeking qualified individuals to fill three full-time positions, two of which are available immediately in our award-winning, state-licensed Early Education Center, and one is a faculty position for the 2020-2021 school year.
Congratulations to ACS 12th grader Ashleigh Martin — one of 25 South Jersey seniors to receive the 2020 Press of Atlantic City Young Leaders Award. The award recipients were selected from high schools in Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland, and southern Ocean counties for their academic achievement, diverse extracurricular activities, and service to their communities.
On April 28, ACS staff members Carrie Jorgenson and Kelly Schlundt, who have spearheaded the charitable community service project, delivered pizza from Carluccio’s in Northfield to bless the nurses at the AtlantiCare Medical Center ICU in Atlantic City.
On May 28, Jorgenson and Schlundt delivered lunch from Naomi’s Cafe in Northfield for the staff at Absecon Manor Nursing Home, which includes ACS parents Gessie Polynice and Jennifer Remlein.
On Thursday and Friday, the administrative staff did drive-by gift bag drop-offs at the homes of every teacher and full-time aide. The gift bags included a specially-designed ACS Quarantine 2020 shirt and mug, snacks, a Wawa gift card, tissues, hand sanitizer, and more.
ACS elementary students recently created Memorial Day-themed art projects as part of their remote art classes taught by faculty member Sherry Mirakian. Ms. Mirakian created a video highlighting those art projects to share with ACS families and friends.
In an effort to promote social distancing to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus, ACS and schools across the country have been closed and gatherings of more than 50 people have been curtailed. By necessity, the ACS Administration reviewed the upcoming events on the school calendar and made the difficult decision to cancel all school events in March and a number of other events in April and May, including the Legacy Gala – An Evening With Mandisa planned for May 1 and missions trips scheduled during the Easter break.
School family members and visitors to ACS during the week of March 16 were greeted by ACS receptionist Barb Harmon at a new counter installed in the school office. ACS limited access to the school starting on Tuesday, March 17 due to the COVID-19 virus and the new entrance to the office helped with enforcement of that policy.
Three alumni who played on ACS championship Lady Cougars basketball teams made significant contributions this season to their college teams — 2017 graduate Dakota Hitchner, 2015 graduate Ola Oguntuase, and 2016 graduate Candace Winkel (pictured above with ACS Athletic Director Pam Hitchner). 
Hitchner, in her second year as the point guard on Cairn University’s Women’s Basketball team, averaged 20 points a game and received Honorable Mention All-Conference in the Colonial States Athletic Conference. Hitchner, a junior, is majoring in physical education.
Oguntuase, a pre-med major at Jefferson University, has been a member of this strong Division 2 team since her freshman year. The team came in first place this year in the Central Athletic Collegiate Conference and was moving on to play in the NCAA Division 2 Championship tournament, but due to the Coronavirus pandemic the tournament games were recently cancelled. Oguntuase, who plays center, averaged five minutes of playing time this year and played strong in the final game of the regular season.