Tracy McPartland - Co-Executive Director
Wow!! These are crazy times! The Eastern Iowa Arts Academy, like all of Cedar Rapids’ beloved community organizations, is doing its best to gather reliable information from the CDC (www.cdc.gov), and the Iowa Department of Public Health (www.idph.iowa.gov) in response to COVID-19. We know that it can be disappointing to have to miss a class or rehearsal due to your illness or the illness of an instructor and we ask for your patience and understanding if/when that occurs. Please, understand that if your student is symptomatic and comes to class, we will likely ask them to head home. We still love them, we just want to protect our Arts Academy family.
Often, we ask ourselves what we can do, as a single person, to have an impact on the world around us. This is our chance to make an impact on the collective health of our community. This is our chance to realize that this situation is bigger than any one of us and keep in perspective the small inconveniences we may experience because the “things we normally do” have been cancelled or postponed. All of the small steps each one of us takes to reduce the spread of all illnesses, and especially COVID-19, can have an enduring impact on the health and vitality of our community.
We want to keep all of our students, patrons and staff safe during this uncertain time. These are the steps we are taking to create the healthiest environment possible:
- • Most importantly, if you are not feeling well or are showing signs of a cough or cold, we would like you to stay home and rest. While we understand that your symptoms may not seem serious, the potential impact of those symptoms on others could be and we want to err on the side of caution.
- • We have placed disinfectant wipes and hand sanitizer throughout the Music and Arts Studios and are asking students and instructors to wipe down all equipment prior to and following all classes and rehearsals.
- • The EIAA staff is going above and beyond our typical daily cleaning protocols to make sure that all common surfaces have been cleaned each day. Additionally, all microphones have been cleaned and put away to eliminate the sharing of germs in the studio and will not be used until further notice.
- • Posters have been placed in the Music and Arts Studios outlining and encouraging students to wash their hands, cover their coughs and sneezes, do their best not to touch their faces and to refrain from sharing food and beverages. To see the poster, click here.
- • As for classes in the schools, we are following the lead of the CRCSD and monitoring their decisions. We are considering our options and will likely know more as spring break draws to a close. We will communicate with parents through the instructors and our Amilia online registration system. If you want to be sure we have your correct email address, please contact us (suzanne@eiaaprogram.org).
At this time, we are continuing programming as scheduled. We are heading into spring break, so please check back with us, we will know much more in a week’s time. We encourage you to visit our Facebook page (facebook.com/easterniowaartsacademy/) and check back here, Our Blog page, for the latest information.
We appreciate your continued patronage and support. We need you to keep EIAA’s mission alive and vibrant. We depend on the generosity of our business and corporate sponsors as well as our individual donors to keep the creativity going.
Wishing you and your family continued health.