For over twenty years, our Preschool Vision Screening Program has helped to ensure healthy vision for NC preschoolers, and despite a worldwide pandemic, we are maintaining a sense of hope and possibility that we can continue this invaluable, preventative service for our children. When our 2019-2020 screening year came to an abrupt end, we quickly began exploring safe and effective ways to adapt our screening protocol. We realized physical distancing and other safety recommendations would have an impact on our screening delivery process; therefore, we explored and implemented programmatic changes that we feel confident will allow us to continue our mission in a safe and effective way. Our new policies and procedures will help ensure the safety of the children, center staff and PBNC screeners, while still providing the children with an opportunity to develop good vision and a lifetime of normal sight.
As seen in these pictures, we were recently able to conduct vision screenings for Head Start students participating in the summer program at Bethlehem Center of Charlotte. We implemented our new screening procedures to include the use of PPE and a rolling cart to maintain the required 6’ distance between our screeners and the children. We are excited to share that new screening model was a success! All safety requirements were met and the process remained a quick, non-invasive, and effective way to find vision problems early.
At our core, we are an organization founded to serve and help people; therefore we are strongly committed to our continued partnership with our childcare centers and early childhood programs and will remain agile and adaptive as recommendations continue to evolve.
If your preschool would like to participate in our vision screening program, please contact PBNC at 919-755-5044 ext 105 or utilize the form below to determine if the program is currently funded in your area.