Life In Deep Ellum has a number of precautions in place to ensure the safety of our attendees. LIDE Kids will go beyond these guidelines to ensure the safety of our unvaccinated children by:

• Requiring masks for everybody in the space, including children Kinder and up, volunteers, staff, and parents.
• Recommending masks for PreK.
• Keeping kids in pods where mask wearing is impossible (toddlers)
• Asking parents to drop off their kids at the check-in desk to minimize people in the kids area
• Encouraging proper hand washing 
• Enhancing cleaning after each group uses an object or material.
• Physically distancing where possible.
• Promoting a culture of respect and service as we strive to keep each other safe.

We are requiring masks for every person 5+ in the kids space. This includes volunteers, staff, parents, or anyone who comes through the LIDE Kids doorway. We are recommending masks for PreK.

We have a new Check-In Process! We are asking parents to check-in allow their child to be taken to class by a volunteer. This will eliminate the number of people entering the kids space. (Toddlers will continue to be dropped off by parents)

Step 1: Register your family to attend Sunday morning. 

Step 2: Check-In Entrance: Front left doors in the Umbrella Gallery. Exit through the venue doors. (Pick-Up at the venue doors.)

Step 3: Using the Church Center app, scan your Check-In barcode using our new self-service kiosk.

Toddlers: Walk your child to their classroom.

Kids and Preteens: A volunteer will walk your child to their appropriate classroom. 

PICK-UP – Pick up your toddler at their classroom, and your Kid or Preteen in The Pit. Show the volunteer your barcode sticker or app. They will match the number and remove your child’s sticker, indicating your child was checked out. 

This is a two-pronged answer.

First, the safety of your infant or baby is our first priority. Our health team felt that our current facilities could not meet the special needs of infants at this time. We will continue to offer a nursing room and a cry room. You can access the nursing room through the women’s restroom. The cry room is located in the Chatter room. Both spaces are set up to livestream or listen to the services, and have rockers, tables, and privacy. If you need assistance in finding either of these spaces, a member of our team would be happy to assist. We will continue to evaluate the possibility of opening the babies room at a later date.

Additionally, as toddlers are unable to physically distance, they needed to be separated into smaller pods. Toddlers now meet in two rooms, Toddler A and Toddler B. 

In addition to our exceptional volunteer training strategy (see below), we have added some steps during this pandemic season. Volunteers must agree to self screening for COVID symptoms, report if they have been in contact with someone who is, or potentially is, COVID positive, and when in doubt, stay home.

Leader Assimilation and Training:

• passed background check
• completed application
• interview
• references 

Parent volunteers

This summer we are fortunate to have parents assisting the leaders. These parents are paired with a veteran volunteer. They must also have a long-standing history with LIDE and pass a background check. 

Youth Volunteers

These 7th-12th graders are leaders-in-training. They also must complete a youth volunteer application, interview, and have a signed permission slip from a parent or guardian.

LIDE Kids consists of Walkers – 6th Grade, as of Fall 2021. This year, in lieu of a formal promotion Sunday, kids will enter their groups this summer in the grade they WILL BE in during the 2021-2022 School year. This decision was made in order to minimize the amount of times kids switch groups. They will enter their small group this Summer and stay with that group until next school year (2022-2023).

In addition, we made the decision this year to keep 6th Graders in LIDE Kids and separate the 4th-6th graders into their own environment called Preteen Tribes. Kinder-3rd is in a separate environment called Kids Crew.

6th GRADERS IN LIDE KIDS

LIDE Kids and Youth Gathering work together for the spiritual development of our young ones.  As our children grow, we are constantly evaluating our programming against the needs of our children. During the pandemic, our kids were not able to be together for over a year. We prayerfully decided that allowing 6th Grade to stay in LIDE Kids for one more year will provide them the opportunity to engage in events they missed last year. In addition, this will allow 7th-12th graders to go deeper into topics that may not be age appropriate for our 6th graders. This is a long-term change. We are planning on keeping 6th in LIDE Kids until the Holy Spirit leads us into a different direction. 

PRETEEN TRIBES and KIDS CREW

We are not just combining all ages into the same group. As we stated before, upper elementary need content delivered in an age appropriate way. We are pleased to introduce PRETEEN TRIBES! These TRIBES include 4th, 5th and 6th graders. Kinder-3rd graders get to have their own separate environment called KIDS CREW! While the content is aligned through K-6th, the format and delivery is varied depending on age.

Each child will have a blast each week learning about Jesus, connecting together, and learning how to serve in an age-targeted way!