Executive Director

Purpose

To establish an environment that is welcoming to students, parents, staff and volunteers and develop programs and procedures that protect the welfare, health, safety and development of all the children enrolled at the Gertrude B. Nielsen Child Care and Learning Center. 

Human Resource Development

  • Provide a thorough orientation for new staff.
  • Provide and/or make provisions for ongoing staff development
  • Provide regular opportunities for supervision, support and systematic performance appraisal.
  • Work to actively recruit and retain high quality staff 
  • Provide a system for frequent and high quality internal communication including staff meetings and resolution of disputes between or among staff members.  

Personnel Cost and Allocation

  • Makes recommendations regarding number of staff, staff salary scales, annual compensation adjustments and fringe benefits.
  • Assures maintenance of desired staff to child ratio at all times and oversees the schedules of days off for individual staff members.

Center Operations

  • Assures the Center conforms to health, safety, licensing and accreditation regulations
  • Continually assesses and maintains the health and safety of the facility
  • Supervise:
  1. Planning for and equipping of indoor and outdoor areas
  2. Arrangements for custodial care, maintenance and repairs
  3. Maintenance of all records in accordance with retention policy and applicable regulations.
  4. Management of supplies

Child Assessment

  • Assures that children with special needs are identified and referred for services and that the Center works appropriately with families and specialists to provide an appropriate and supportive environment.
  • Assures that a system is in place to assess the performance of children in relation to their specific skills and needs and in relation to the performance of others in their age group.
  • Assures that child assessments are used effectively in curriculum planning and program evaluation.

Fiscal Management

  • Make recommendations regarding priorities for the annual budget.
  • Operate the Center within budget according to standard accounting procedures
  • Review and reconcile monthly Bank Statements and prepare monthly reports of operations for accountant.
  • Supervise:
  1. The collection of enrollment fees and tuition
  2. The purchase of equipment and supplies
  3. The arrangement of repairs and maintenance.
  4. The preparation of monthly financial including a comparison of actual performance to the budget
  5. The handling of petty cash

Program Planning and Evaluation

  • Foster and promote the mission and vision of the Center. 
  • Manage strategic planning initiatives.
  • Involve staff, and parents in evaluating program practices

Family Partnerships

  • Assure good quality and frequent communication with parents of all students.
  • Encourage family involvement in center’s activities and in the evaluation of the Center’s performance.
  • Welcome families with diverse needs and from diverse cultures and linguistic backgrounds.

Board Partnerships

  • Recognizes and is responsive to the needs of the Board
  • Communicates effectively with the Board on issues relating to staffing, enrollment and center operations
  • Seeks feedback from the Board on job performance of self and administrative team
  • Works to recommend Board Members to serve on the Board of Directors.

Marketing And Public Relations

  • Play an active role in the community through civic, business and early childhood professional associations.
  • Be flexible and responsive to the needs of the neighborhood or local community.
  • Maintain high quality external communication and marketing materials.
  • Work to ensure current family satisfaction  

Technology

  • Makes ongoing evaluations on the Center’s technological resources
  • Evaluates and uses software applications to ensure efficiency
  • Supervises the maintenance of the website and use of the Internet by administrative and teaching staff.

Staff Qualifications

  • Actively plans for staff recruitment and retention in accordance with DCFS and NAEYC requirements
  • Maintains Director qualifications per DCFS and NAEYC requirements.