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EDN 460
OPENING A CHILD CARE CENTER

PHILOSOPHY: CREATING A VISION

In thinking about your center, first you need to decide its PURPOSE, GOALS, and PHILOSOPHY. The PURPOSE of your program is to establish why you want to operate a child care center. Your GOALS guide your program toward the results you wish to accomplish. The philosophy of your program outlines how you will operate your program based on your purpose and goals. In other words, think about your responses to WHY, WHAT, and HOW you create your program's foundation. Make sure you include the bases for your philosophy. For example, you might say "we want our center to be bright, with lots of natural lighting, where the outside spills over into the inside" (from Reggio Emilia philosophy). In collaboration with your partner, write a one-page program philosophy based on your own thinking about how children should be educated.

SELECTING A NAME

Now that you have established your vision of what the program will look like, select a NAME for your program. Your child care center's name will, in essence, be your trademark to the community. You want your name to reflect your program's purpose. Avoid cute and trendy names related to
children and child care; name or phrase that is popular now may not retain its value or identity later. You want families and the community to recognize your child care center by a name that will hold a reputation of a high quality establishment. Now brainstorm some possible names for your center, indicate the ones you think are appropriate, then ask friends and colleagues which names appeal to them and why.

LEGAL DETERMINATION OF YOUR PROGRAM

Decide on a program for which you would like to be responsible. The type of the program you create will need to be identified and legally recognized as either a not-for-profit or propriety program. Not-for-profit programs can receive funding from government sources or other
subsidies from sponsoring agencies. Proprietary (privately run programs for profit) operate to produce a return for shareholders' investments. Following are some legal forms of private organizations: sole proprietorship, partnership, and corporation.

ESTABLISHING AND WORKING WITH A BOARD

Most child care centers have a governing body that assists the program with representation from
various professional disciplines. You should seek members from diverse backgrounds and areas of
expertise who can contribute and work on behalf of the program. The governing board makes and enforces policy while the advisory board advises, discusses, suggests, investigates, or informs. The advisory board has no power to implement or enforce. depending on the size of the center, its goals, its bylaws and other laws, there may be both a governing and an advisory board, one or the other, or neither. Whatever your decision, develop and organizational chart to properly express the hierarchical and conditional relationships among personnel and divisions in your organization.

ASSESSING THE NEED

Assess the need for child care in your community by: 1) Surveying the kinds of centers available for young children in your community. Survey at least 10 child care programs in your area. Summerize your data in a table format. Include in your table: name of program, location, cost, center hours, number and ages of children enrolled, staff and their training, availability of a waiting list, and other services available to parents and children (if available). In addition, write a summary narrative describing your findings (2-3 pages). (http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/dcd/search/r1000050.htm), and
2) Developing parent child care questionnaire. Design a short child-care questionnaire and administer it to at least 5 parents of young children. Ask questions about programs, staff, facilities, and cost. Determine parents’ priorities when they seek a child-care center (a sample questionnaire will be provided in class). Include the forms, a summary of the results and decisions that you have made using the results of the survey and questionnaire in your ECMP

REGULATION SYSTEM

Before you embark on developing a Child Care Business Plan, you should first research and
understand the regulatory system for child care in your community. The more you understand about the people who support and enforce the regulations, the easier it will be to create your business plan. Most states have regulations and a licensing system to ensure that there are minimum standards of care
for young children in out-of-home care.

State/Local Regulations:
This office may be either Social Services or Health and Human Services. Contact the office and request a current copy of child care regulations and an application for a license. Also request any additional information that the agency may have on child care centers. Another excellent resource is your local child care resource and referral agency. It can help you with understanding current local child care regulations and community child care needs.

	North Carolina Department of Human Resources, Division of Child Development P.O. Box 29553 Raleigh, NC 27626-0553 Phone: 1-800-859-0829 or 919-733-4801 http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/dcd/ http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/dcd/news.htm http://www.dhhs.state.nc.us/docs/issues/children.htm
	North Carolina Child Care Resource and Referral Network The Child Advocacy Commission 1401 South 39th Street Wilmington, NC 28403 Phone: 910-791-6270
	Zoning Department If you have not determined a location or do not have one in mind, contact your local zoning office and request a listing of communities where child care is allowed. If a list is not available, you will have to determine possible locations and then return to zoning for approval. Zoning requirements vary extensively. Generally, a special use permit is required. Do not buy or lease any property until you have written approval from the local zoning department; it can be very costly and time consuming to have a facility approved.
	Occupancy Permit In some communities you are required to have an occupancy permit. This is given by the county building department. You will need to find out the specific building requirements for child care facilities. Call and request these specifications so you will be aware of construction and building needs.
	Local Fire Department Contact the local fire department in your community for the fire safety regulations and requirements for your facility.
	Health Department Your facility's health and safety regulations will be governed by health departments. Contact the department for current regulations for child care centers.
	Insurance Coverage Child care centers require several types of insurance coverage. There are requirements for general liability insurance, excess umbrella liability, student accident, vehicle insurance for transporting children, worker's compensation, staff medical benefits, theft, and fire and other casualty insurance. Call several insurance companies to discuss what policies and plans they have to offer, including the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). Request quotes in writing so that you are able to compare policies.
	Transporting Young Children Include information about children's transportation in your assumed child care center. You may want to call or visit the department of motor vehicles and ask about requirements for transporting young children.
	Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) This is the new federal legislation that has impact on building and/or remolding child care facilities. This important legislation will guide you in making sure your facility meets the specifications for individuals with disabilities. You should call the ADA hot line at 1-800-514-0301 to obtain written deadlines. http://www.access-board.gov/ http://www.ed.gov http://www.nc-ddc.org

DIRECTOR INTERVIEW

Interview two directors from two different programs for young children about their experiences as director/administrators. In your interviews make sure that you have inquired about the centers’ experience in getting a license (e.g., what information could they offer that would help a prospective care provider avoid common pitfalls or delays). Write a one-two page summary narrative of your findings. Include transcriptions (summary) of the interviews in your ECMP. A sample interview question will be provided in class.

CAREGIVERS INTERVIEW

Interview two caregivers from two different programs in your area. Include transcriptions (summary) of the interviews in your ECMP. Make sure that you have asked caregivers about how they deal with the following issues:

Philosophy of teaching: What do teachers believe about how young children learn? How do they see they role as teachers?
Classroom curriculum: What curriculum model/approach do teachers use in their classroom?
Guidance/Discipline: What common approaches to discipline they use at their center/classroom?
Teacher turnover: How many caregivers have been employed in this center for over 6 months? 1 Year? Longer? What has been the main reason for termination?
Diversity: How many children in the group (or center) come from ethnic backgrounds other than white? How do teachers integrate customs from minority groups (food, dress, celebrations, etc.) into healthy attitudes for children and adults?
Parent Involvement: Do they believe in parent involvement? How do they encourage parent
participations?
Decision Making: Are the staff members included in the decision making process such as
establishing curriculum goals, budget, program evaluation, ect.?

MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

Selection of materials should be based on developmental practices of supporting social, emotional, physical, and cognitive growth of children. Select and purchase all similar furniture and materials for each classroom. This gives a refined look to your center. Include the list of materials and equipment needed for operating your child care center in your ECMP. Indicate the anticipated cost for the materials and equipment. You should check current catalogs, stores, etc., to find prices for materials and equipment that you have decided to supply your program (use spreadsheet). List sources. What is the cost per child and per classroom? Include all curriculum areas. (For this section of your ECMP you may choose to include part of your course project completed in EDN 430 and EDN 450 with regard to purchasing equipment and materials.)

BUILDING DESIGN

Your child care facility design will require you to incorporate what you know about child care regulations with appropriate environments for young children. Child care facilities have specific design requirements that must be applied when you build or renovate. Include a computer generated layout of the center (e.g., building size (the number of square feet per child), classrooms, outdoor play yard, office, gym, teacher's lounge, etc.) in your ECMP. Your center layout should include furniture and the materials you have purchased for each learning area including the office and teachers’ lounge. On your map, label each area or center. (Once again, for this section of your ECMP you may choose to include part of your course project completed in EDN 430 and EDN 450 with regard to classroom design/floor plan.)

FINANCES AND BUDGET

A major task of a director (or finance committee) is the preparation of a budget. For this part of your project you need to prepare a start-up budget (preferably for 6 months or one year) by: a) estimating how much your program will cost (based on the center's goals), and b) determining how much income will be available to support initial operation of your program. Make sure you indicate whether or not your center is for-profit or not-for-profit.

PUBLICITY BROCHURE

An important part of a director’s job, in both new and ongoing programs, is publicizing the center. One way to recruit children and promote your program is through developing and distributing a brochure to prospective families. The content and appearance of your brochure makes a statement to parents. Thus make sure your words are informative and written in a straight forward language. Including appropriate photos and/or a logo in your brochure will help to attract the attention of prospective clients. The following list includes some of the more stable items typically included in a brochure:

Mission statement –goals and visions
The center’s philosophy; name, address, and phone number of the center
Description of the program
Sponsorship of the program
Enrollment procedures and children served (e.g., ages)
Licensing/accreditation status of the center; hours, days, and months of program

PARENT HANDBOOK

A handbook for parents is a convenient way to communicate basic program information and should be distributed to all families at some point in the enrollment procedure. As a director, you will have to decide what information parents need to know and the best way to convey it to them. Use the suggested list as a general guideline for developing a parent handbook:

Names of center staff members and information about when and how to reach them
Brief statement of program philosophy
Outline of daily program
Fees and arrangements for payment
Expected arrival and pick-up times and procedures
Center policy on health and safety precaution to be taken by parents and center staff
Sample menus for snacks and/or meals and expectations the staff may have about eating
Services the center staff will offer to children and families
Center discipline policy
Requests for help from parents (e.g., help in classroom, on field trips, clerical help, making materials for classroom and so forth)
Summary of scheduled events at the center
Description of the legal obligations of center staff to report any evidence of child abuse

STAFF HANDBOOK

As a director/leader starting a new center, you have the responsibility of developing and writing program documents for staff. It is essential that detailed written documents describing various components of the total program be available for distribution to all center staff. The content of program documents will differ based on the overall structure of your sponsoring organization or corporation, the size and scope of your program, and your program’s mission and goals. The following list of documents, although not exhaustive, can be used with your staff to help them better understand your program.

Mission statement –goals and visions
Program philosophy
Organizational structure
Personnel policies (Employment (e.g., employee status, promotions & transfer, attendance & punctuality, dress code,…); Benefits (e.g., vacation, sick days,…); Standards of conduct (e.g., training, confidentiality,…)
Program regulations
Holiday policies
Helpful hints for teachers
List of resources in staff library

Adopted from Child Care Center Resource and Business Kit: How to open a child
care center: Kaplan Companies, Inc.