The following is from Deborah Engel, founder of Work and Play
March 11, 2020
Dear Members & Staff,
It is with great difficulty that I announce Work and Play will be temporarily closed beginning Monday, March 16th to do our part to help “flatten the curve” of COVID-19.
Like many of you, I have been doing a lot of reading over the past 24 hours, and everything I read has convinced me that social distancing and cancelling everything is the only way to slow the spread of this virus so we don’t overwhelm our medical resources. While – at the writing of this letter – there are still no confirmed cases in Essex County, and we are still considered low risk, articles such as this one from The Atlantic are scary.
While we had mentioned that we will follow the lead of our district’s school system, I believe the time to close is now.
I know you have questions about what happens next. We will send additional communications later today and tomorrow, but for now, please understand we do not take this decision lightly but to protect our staff, our children and the members of our community, we believe it is our responsibility to close our doors. We chose Monday to give our community a little time to plan, but if you are able to stay home sooner, we encourage you to do so.
Thank you for understanding.
Best regards,
