Preschool Director Job Responsibilities
Handling the day-to-day operations and administration of a school involves many tasks. Whether supervising teachers, teaching yourself, developing program plans, or preparing budgets, preschool directors balance various responsibilities to make sure the schools run smoothly.
Duties in a preschool director job description might include:
- Overseeing teachers and classroom activities
- Advertising and recruiting new families in the program
- Maintaining building capacity based on DPW
- Hiring and training staff and teachers
- Organizing professional development activities
- Developing policies and procedures that meet state requirements and communicating them to staff and teachers
- Managing and preparing budgets
- Creating curricula and standards that support educational excellence
- Working with staff to communicate with parents and students
- Discussing student progress with parents
- Coordinating the maintenance and cleaning of the facility according to state and local standards
- Teaching in the AM while we built up customer-base
A preschool director is in charge of managing all aspects of a preschool, from keeping student-to-teacher ratios appropriate to ensuring the excellence of the curriculum and organizing student enrollment. Though the work places a lot of responsibility on a preschool director, it also offers genuine gratification.
Fundamental Skills for Preschool Directors
Aspiring preschool directors would do well to cultivate their abilities in several areas. By developing the following skills, preschool directors can carry out their duties more effectively.
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Communication. Preschool directors will need to collaborate and coordinate with many people as well as effectively convey information to teachers, staff, parents, and children.
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Active Listening. Excellent communicators actively listen. Teachers and parents need to feel a preschool director truly hears what they’re saying.
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Compassion. Preschool directors deal with a vulnerable population. Parents and students may be particularly sensitive as they begin their journey into the new experience of school. As such, preschool directors should be able to demonstrate compassion and concern.
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Critical Thinking. Making effective decisions about the various academic and business components of a preschool calls for excellent analytical and critical thinking skills.
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Interpersonal Relations. To effectively run a school, preschool directors need to develop relationships with teachers, parents, and children. This requires the ability to build trust and a sense of partnership with others.
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Organization. Schools are busy places with many moving parts. Preschool directors need to keep excellent records about children and teachers. They also need to be able to multitask, giving attention to several people and situations at once.
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Problem-Solving. Managing an entire school inevitably means addressing problems, which might involve the budget, concerns from parents, or issues with teachers. Preschool directors need to approach problems thoughtfully and with a level head to find effective solutions.
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Good crisis management: A Child Care Director must have strong crisis management abilities, being able to remain cool and composed in a crisis.
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Leadership skills: The Child Care Director’s job is to keep staff motivated and resolve conflicts, which takes good leadership skills.
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Classroom experience: Since a Child Care Director is responsible for hiring teaching staff, they need to know how to handle a group of children, understand childhood development and have the know-how to establish classroom structure.
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Business management: A Child Care Director runs all aspects of a childcare facility from setting up the security system to creating the budget. Besides being detail-orientated and organized, they need to keep up with federal and state daycare laws and requirements.
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First aid: Child Care Directors must have a good knowledge of child safety requirements and be up-to-date on first aid protocol.
A Bachelor's Degree. Master's Degree from an accredited college or university in early childhood education, child development, special education, elementary education.
- Innovation & Exploration STEM Early Learning Center is committed to ensuring its services and employment are provided in a nondiscriminatory manner, without regard to race, sex, color, national origin, ancestry, religious creed, disability, age and limited English proficiency.