Center Director, Early Head Start

Description

The Center Director provides leadership to the Early Learning Center team; assists in developing procedures and policies to ensure consistently high-quality early care and education programming; administers projects, programs and budgets; supervises the day-to-day running of the Center in accordance with the philosophy, goals, and mission statements outlined in the Parent Handbook and the Policy and Procedures Manual of Easterseals Blake Foundation (EBF), as well as standards required by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Accreditation; and is responsible for recruiting, hiring, and assisting staff in succeeding in their work.

Additionally, this position involves families in all possible ways in support of the Early Learning Centers and seeks to develop collaborative community relationships.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

• Ensures that all aspects of program are in compliance with requirements and/or standards of the Office of Child Care Licensure, Early Head Start/Head Start National Performance Standards, National Accreditation for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) accreditation and Quality First
• Prepares policy & procedure statements and manuals
• Ensures that adequate quality assurance systems are in place and utilized
• Monitors that all reporting requirements and deadlines for related programs are met including: the Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP), First Things First (FTF), Early Head Start/Head Start (EHS/HS), NAEYC, Arizona Department of Health Services (ADHS) licensure, EBF, private donors, etc.
• Reviews paperwork related to CACFP and ADHS during enrollment of children
• Recruits children and maintains enrollment through effective marketing strategies
• Confers with any parent who expresses a complaint, concern or idea for improving the program
• Administers appropriate medications at the request of parents and with proper medical documentation
• Conducts monthly meetings for all staff, providing ongoing in-service training as required by Office of Child Care Licensure
• Holds monthly Parent Meetings open to all parents and families
• Conducts ongoing communication to engage families including a monthly Newsletter
• Monitors all financial matters including budgets, billing, grants and other sources of revenue
• Writes quarterly reports for grant expenditures when required
• Coordinates programmatic needs with staff from Head Start, Early Head Start and the Arizona Early Intervention program
• Maintains current personnel files and current children’s files in accordance with requirements of The Office of Child Care Licensure, Head Start, Early Head Start and NAEYC
• Coordinates the purchase and maintenance of supplies and equipment
• Develops a staffing plan that reflects low teacher-to-child ratios as required by NAEYC and Head Start/Early Head Start
• Ensures compliance with federal state and local laws and regulations covering equal opportunity employment, minimum wage, and benefits
• Supervises the teaching staff in administering the day-to-day operations of each classroom
• Acts, along with consultants, as a resource person for teaching staff
• Provides opportunities for staff development and sponsors staff in attending workshops
• Assists teachers with formal parent-teacher conferences
• Holds conferences with individual staff members who are having difficulties with other employees or who are experiencing personal problems affecting job performance
• Meets with and evaluates all staff members annually and develops annual professional development plans
• Meets with all staff members at the end of their probationary period to appraise progress and plan next steps
• Encourages and sponsors staff in obtaining higher education and job-related skills
• Facilitates team work and seeks to develop a collaborative community of families, staff and community resources and agencies that will allow for continuing program improvements and positive outcomes for all

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, & ABILITIES:

• Proven knowledge of child development and high-quality early care and education
• Demonstrated ability to administer a program and budget of comparable scope and complexity
• Demonstrated professional skills in the area of curriculum planning, in-service training, program goal setting, lesson planning and assessment procedures for evaluating the progress of individual children
• Knowledge of and experience with:
• ASQ (Ages and Stages Questionnaire)
• Teaching Strategies Gold
• Head Start and Early Head Start requirements
• NAEYC Accreditation
• Office of Child Care Licensure Revised Requirements
• ECERS, ITERS and