Position Summary:
The Director of Early Learning Services
is responsible for the overall leadership, administration, and operation of the childcare center and campus based Bloom Room program. This position oversees all academic and non academic childcare services, ensuring high quality early learning experiences in a safe, nurturing, and compliant environment. The Director provides strategic direction, supervises staff, manages enrollment and financial processes, ensures regulatory compliance, and collaborates with families, community partners, and leadership to support the organization’s mission. The role requires a strong balance of educational leadership, operational management, regulatory oversight, and family engagement.
Essential Job Functions:- Oversee and direct all childcare services related daycare and campus bloom room.
- Confer with parents and staff to discuss educational activities, program policies, and address students behavioral or learning concerns.
- Monitor students progress and provide students and teachers with assistance in resolving any problems.
- Recruit, hire, train, and evaluate primary and supplemental staff and recommend personnel actions for programs and services.
- Teach classes,courses or provide direct care to children, as needed.
- Direct and coordinate activities of staff assigned.
- Prepare and maintain attendance, activity, planning, accounting, or personnel reports and records for leadership team as requested.
- Plan, direct, and monitor instructional methods and content of educational, vocational, or student activity programs.
- Review and evaluate new and current programs to determine their efficiency, effectiveness, and compliance with state, local, and federal regulations and recommend any necessary modifications.
- Set educational standards and goals and help establish protocols, procedures, and programs to carry them out.
- Determine the scope of educational program offerings and prepare drafts of program schedules and descriptions to estimate staffing and facility requirements.
- Embrace and embody the mission, vision, guiding principles, clinical vision and goals of WestCare Foundation.
- Completes all orientation and mandated training activities, including ELearning Courses, within required timeframes, and in accordance with the criteria established for this position.
- Ensures timely follow through on all children’s tuition payments and reports any discrepancies in a prompt manner.
- Provides accurate and timely weekly payment information to support precise accounting processes.
- Collaborates with the Early Learning Coordinator to develop outreach strategies and recruit new student enrollment.
- Works toward obtaining childcare accreditation and maintains all required standards to ensure coutinued accreditation.
- Completes all invoicing and reporting required for the Food Program within established deadlines.
- Communicate effectively with all parties involved in the Food Program, including vendors, providers, and the funding agency.
- Maintains accurate and complete files for both teachers and students.
- Ensures full compliance with all Florida Department of Children and Families (DCF) licensing standards, including documentation, staff to child ratios, classroom requirements, and training mandates.
- Oversee daily operations of the center, including staffing, classroom activities, parent communication, and facility maintenance.
- Supervises, trains, and evaluates all childcare staff to ensure high quality educational and safety practices.
- Develops and implements appropriate curriculum and ensures that classrooms follow developmentally appropriate practices.
- Conducts regular classroom observations and ensures continuous improvement in program quality.
- Ensures emergency preparedness plans are current, trained, and practiced according to state requirements.
- Maintains a safe and healthy environment by ensuring that all sanitation, safety, and security procedures are followed.
- Builds and maintains positive relationships with parents, guardians, staff, stakeholders, and regulatory agencies.
- Leads enrollment tours, provides program information, and supports families throughout the registration and orientation process.
- Prepares required reports for funding agencies, licensing bodies, and organizational leadership.
- Manages inventory, supplies, and equipment to ensure classrooms are well equipped and within budget.
- Addresses parent concerns or complaints promptly and professionally, ensuring timely resolution.
- Reviews Early Learning Coalition (ELC) reporting requirements and ensures that all required documentation is completed and submitted in a timely manner.
- Perform any other duties as assigned.
Job Qualifications:
Essential Qualifications:Certifications/Licensures:- At minimum, must hold National Child Development Associate (CDA) or other early childhood credential that meets or exceeds the requirements of the National CDA and is recognized by regulatory agencies in at least five states.
- Valid driver’s license and ability to obtain and maintain WestCare’s vehicle insurance is required.
- Active Florida DCF Director’s Credential is required.
- Active VPK Director’s Credential is required.
Education:- Graduation from an accredited four-year college with a degree in Early Childhood Education/Child Development or a related field is required.
- National Early Childhood credential or an active School-Age Child Care credential may be substituted for formal educational qualifications.
Experience and Competencies:- Must have at least 480 hours experience in childcare setting serving children ages birth through eight years of age.
- CPR Certification, First Aid Certification and an annual Tuberculosis test.
- Bilingual is preferred.
- Extensive knowledge of early childhood development principles and developmentally appropriate educational practices.
- Knowledge of Florida DCF licensing regulations, VPK standards, and ELC reporting requirement.
- Minimum of two years of experience in early childhood education or childcare administration.
- Enthusiastic personality that will engage preschool children.
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills with adults and children.
- Ability to collaborate and communicate with teachers, support staff, parents, and students in a positive and constructive way.
- Ability to establish priorities, work independently, and proceed with objectives required.
- Ability to handle and resolve recurring problems required.
- Ability to develop meaningful goals and objectives required.
- Skill in group processes including goal setting, planning, and conflict mediation required.
- High level of personal accountability for the quality and impact of work required.
- Experience in youth development model, asset-based relationship building, and experience in motivating youth required.
- Ability to be empathetic, compassionate, non-judgmental, and enthusiastic.
- Excellent organizational skills.
- Ability to plan, manage, and evaluate curriculum.
- Proficient with Microsoft Office Suite or related software as required for recordkeeping and documentation.
- Ability to exercise good judgment and discretion.
- Ability to work well in a team environment.
- Skill in teaching others how to do something.
- Skill in talking to others to convey information effectively.
- Ability to think creatively, developing, designing, or creating new applications, ideas, relationships, systems, or products, including artistic contributions.
- Skill in Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
- Adherence to the highest standard of ethical conduct, especially to standards governing confidentiality.
- Understanding of issues related to individuals with varied identities in prevention, intervention and treatment.
- Understands that individuals with distinct community backgrounds, have different perceptions of health.
- Demonstrates respect for individuals with varied identities when conducting assessments, developing Wellness and Recovery Plans, and providing services.
- Understands that individuals with distinct community backgrounds define and perceive family and its importance differently.
- Demonstrates ability to work effectively with individuals with distinct community backgrounds.
- Ability to use trauma informed care principles including ensuring consumer safety, preventing/avoiding re-traumatization, maximizing trustworthiness, enhancing consumer choice, maximizing collaboration, and emphasizing empowerment.
- Ability to identify and describe key signs, symptoms, impact and manifestations of trauma.
- Aware of the differences between trauma informed and trauma-specific services.
- Understands the bidirectional relationships among substance use and mental disorders and trauma.
- Understands the differences among various kinds of abuse and trauma, including: physical, emotional, and sexual abuse; domestic violence; experiences of war for both combat veterans and survivors of war; natural disasters; and community violence.
- Knowledge of WestCare Mission, goals and values.
- Knowledge of Incident Reporting.
- Knowledge of HIPAA, Professional Ethics, Consumer Rights and Confidentiality.
- Familiarity with WestCare services and programs.
- Demonstrates a high degree of dependability.
- Maintains a good attendance record.
- Observes working hours.
- Shows flexibility and is responsive to requests from supervisor.
- Works independently with minimal supervision.
- Exhibits characteristics of good workmanship, and integrity on the job.
- Work time is always productive.
- Demonstrates ability to establish and maintain effective working relationships with consumers, co-workers, external partners, and regulatory agencies.
- Is courteous to consumers, staff, and all others.
- Demonstrates tact at the appropriate time.
- Cooperates with others both within and outside WestCare.
- Works well with supervisor; accepts direction and supervision.
- Maintains a positive attitude toward work.
- Ensures and maintains a safe working environment.
- Work area is clean and orderly.
- Verbalizes, understands and adheres to agency safety procedures.
- Demonstrates appropriate use of Unusual Incident Reports, in accordance with the agency’s reporting procedures.
- Presents a positive personal image.
- Dresses and maintains a professional demeanor.
Working Conditions:- Work is primarily performed in a classroom/daycare or office setting.
- Some outdoor activities may be required.
Essential Physical and Mental Demands of the Job:The employee must be able to perform the following essential duties and activities with orWithout accommodation.
Physical Demands:- Requires mobility and physical activity: Having an adequate range of body motion and mobility to work in a daycare or outdoor environment including standing and walking (even and uneven surfaces), sitting for extended periods of time, bending, twisting, reaching, balancing, occasional lifting and carrying of up to 50 pounds. Use of computer and telephone systems is required which includes coordination of eye and hand, and fine manipulation by the hands (typing, writing, and working with files).
- Requires talking: Expressing or exchanging ideas by means of the spoken word. Talking is required to impart oral information to employees, clients, patients, and the public, and in those activities in which the employee is required to convey detailed or important spoken instructions to others accurately, loudly, or quickly.
- Requires hearing: Hearing is required to receive and communicate detailed information through oral communication.
- Requires seeing: Clarity of vision at 20 inches or less and at distance. This factor is required to complete paperwork for many of the employee’s essential job functions and to observe client behavior and activities in and out of the facility.
- The normal work routine may require exposure to human body fluids or tissues. Appropriate personal protective equipment will be readily available to every employee.
Mental Demands:- Requires the ability to collect and analyze complex numerical and written data and verbal information to reach logical conclusions.
- Requires the ability to work and cooperate with children, co-workers, managers, the public and employees at all levels in order to exchange ideas, information, instructions and opinions.
- Requires the ability to work under stress and in emotionally charged settings.
About Westcare: Who We AreSince 1973, WestCare has provided health and human services with a commitment to delivering high-quality and cost-effective services that empower people to transform their lives.THE MISSION.We are resolutely dedicated to the populations we serve, as well as our employees, and actively promote the wellness and empowerment of individuals, their families, and their communities.Our MissionWestCare empowers everyone with whom we come into contact with to engage in a process of healing, growth, and change benefiting themselves, their families, co-workers, and communities.Where Do We Serve?Proudly serving sixteen states, three U.S. territories, the Dominican Republic and the Republic of PalauWhat Do We Do?We're a family of nonprofit organizations that provide a wide range of health and human services to improve the lives of those in our communities. Our service domains include:Mental Health & WellnessTreatment & RehabilitationCriminal JusticeVeteran ServicesHousing OpportunitiesEducation & PreventionDomestic ViolenceEmergency Support
