Naples Park Early Childhood Education Manager

Job Title: Naples Park Early Childhood Education Manager

Reports To: Director, Naples Park Early Learning Center

Classification: Full time, Exempt

Supervisory Responsibilities: ECE teachers, ECE support teachers, support staff

Our Mission: Grace Place puts faith into action, providing pathways out of poverty by educating children and families.

Summary/Objective:
The Grace Place Early Learning Center at Naples Park Elementary Manager in cooperation with the Director provides strategic and operational leadership for a full-day, full-year early childhood program serving approximately 90 children ages 1- to 4-years-old. The Manager is responsible for ensuring high-quality educational programming, regulatory compliance, strong family partnerships, financial sustainability, and effective staff leadership. This role oversees daily operations, enrollment and tuition management, staffing, curriculum quality, and data-driven program improvement to ensure a safe, nurturing, and financially sustainable program that meets the needs of working families. The Manager will work directly with the Director to ensure alignment of early childhood educational programming.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Program Leadership & Quality

Manage the creation of a developmentally appropriate classroom environment and facilitate the identification and selection of differentiated instructional resources and methods to meet ECE student’s individual needs.

Establish and oversee the implementation of curriculum for all children’s classes.

Work in collaboration with outside agencies to provide additional support to the curriculum for all children’s classes.

Oversee the NAC accreditation completion and ongoing compliance.

Serve as a Grace Place ambassador and works collaboratively with the local school district, business, and community-based agencies to increase access of resources and services to families.

Manages program budgets and provides reports of program outcome measures.

Staff Oversight

Supervise and support the ECE teachers and the ECE support teachers to ensure that they are effectively fulfilling their responsibilities.

Provide effective ongoing coaching to supervised-staff in appropriate strategies and model these strategies in the classrooms.

Operations, Licensing & Safety

Maintain a safe, clean, and developmentally appropriate facility.

Oversee daily operations, including enrollment, attendance tracking, and staff scheduling.

Ensure compliance with DCF and accreditation standards.

Volunteers

Welcome and effectively manage volunteer involvement in all aspects of the early childhood education program. This includes but is not limited to the provision of an initial orientation, ongoing training, classroom placement, daily scheduling, and retention.

Provide effective on-going coaching in appropriate strategies and model these strategies in the classrooms.

Collaborate with the Volunteer and Community Engagement Coordinator to ensure adequate volunteers are recruited and appropriately placed.

Communication

Communicate regularly with parents to build a high level of trust with our families.

Create a system for communicating with parents the results of student screenings and assessments to ensure that parents can support their child at home.

Meet with parents of children that have developmental concerns and guide them through evaluation process following up with them to ensure their child gets the support they need.

Maintain high visibility and a hands-on presence with staff, students, volunteers, and parents in all aspects of the program.

Data, Outcomes & Reporting

Develop and lead and/or identify ongoing professional development opportunities for early childhood education staff.

Manage program staff to ensure the timely completion of program assessments, developmental checkpoints, screens, and Home Visits.

Assist in the compilation of program outcomes needed for program reporting.

Utilize completed assessments and teacher feedback to identify developmental and social emotional needs and make appropriate interventions and referrals.

Use data to support continuous quality improvement.

Assist in the compilation of program outcomes needed for program reporting.

Utilize completed assessments and teacher feedback to identify developmental and social emotional needs and make appropriate interventions and referrals.

Full-Day, Full-Year Operations

Ensure consistent program quality across extended daily operating hours.

Develop staffing schedules that support ratio compliance and staff sustainability.

Plan for year-round operations, including holidays, closures, and summer continuity.

Performs any other duties or responsibilities as requested.

Qualifications:

Education:

Department of Children and Families (DCF) Florida Child Care Director Credential.

3-5 years managerial or leadership experience.

Experience:

Minimum of three years teaching experience in an early childhood setting, mandatory.

Minimum of two years of experience in a supervising capacity in an early childhood setting, preferred.

Demonstrated experience working with diverse cultures and populations preferred.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

Bi-lingual skills preferred.

Basic proficiency in Microsoft Excel and Word required; additional technology and data-base skills preferred.

Current first aid and CPR certificates.

Willing to submit to Fingerprinting and Background Checks.

Continue to maintain Directors Credential in an active state.

Willing to complete DCF coursework to obtain VPK Director Endorsement.

Meet required DCF training courses, including the completion of necessary continuing education units (CEUs).

Compliance with Good Moral Character as described by DCF.

Commitment to supporting the leadership culture of the organization.

Additional Information:

As members of the Grace Place team, we all value and support the Grace Place Vision, Mission, and Organizational Core Values.

Position Type and Expected Working Hours:
Fulltime Anticipated working hours of approximately 8:30am-5:30pm Monday through Friday, including some evenings and weekends as needed.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

This position requires the employee to be physically present and actively engaged in an early childhood classroom environment to ensure the safety, supervision, care, and developmental support of children ages in accordance with DCF regulations and Grace Place safety protocols.

Essential physical requirements of this role include:

Maintain active visual and auditory supervision of children at all times in accordance with DCF regulations and Grace Place procedures.

Although this is a leadership and administrative role, the Manager must be able and prepared to step into a classroom at any time to maintain required staffing ratios, ensure child safety, or support classroom operations when needed.

Frequently lift, carry, or hold children weighing between 10 and 40 pounds.

Occasionally lift or assist with weight exceeding 40 pounds.

Sit on the floor or low chairs, stand, walk, bend, squat, kneel, reach (overhead, at, and below shoulder level), twist, and move quickly between areas of the classroom and playground throughout the workday.

Supervise and interact with children indoors and outdoors for extended periods in varied weather conditions.

Move at a pace sufficient to ensure child safety across classrooms, common spaces, and outdoor areas, including uneven surfaces.

Use hands and fingers to grasp, handle small objects, assist children with fine motor activities, and perform daily classroom tasks.

Clearly see and distinguish children, objects, and written materials at both close and far distances sufficient to maintain supervision and deliver instruction.

Hear and distinguish voices and sounds sufficient to maintain supervision, communicate with children and staff, and respond to alarms or emergency situations.

Communicate clearly through spoken word to children, families, and staff.

The Manager may be required to temporarily assume full classroom supervision responsibilities and perform all physical duties of a classroom teacher when operational needs require.

Remain physically active and mentally alert for extended periods of time to respond immediately to the needs of children and any unexpected situations or emergencies.

Operate a motor vehicle to travel between Grace Place locations, attend meetings, trainings, or off-site obligations, and transport materials as needed. When driving is required as part of job duties, the employee must maintain a valid driver’s license, acceptable driving record, and active automobile insurance.

Reasonable accommodations will be considered in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to enable qualified individuals to perform these essential functions.

Work Environment:
Position requires working in numerous locations which include varied temperature, noise level, and other factors that may affect a person’s working conditions while performing the job.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement:

Grace Place values diversity in the workplace and among our partners and other stakeholders.

It is the policy of Grace Place to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified employees and applicants on the basis of experience, training, education, and ability to do the available work without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, pregnancy, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information or any other protected characteristic under applicable law. This policy relates to all phases of employment, including, but not limited to, recruiting, employment, placement, promotion, transfer, demotion, reduction of workforce and termination, rates of pay or other forms of compensation, selection for training, the use of all facilities, and participation in all company-sponsored employee activities. Provisions in applicable laws providing for bona fide occupational qualifications, business necessity or age limitations will be adhered to by the company where appropriate.

Employees and applicants shall not be subjected to harassment, intimidation or any type of retaliation because they have (1) filed a complaint; (2) assisted or participated in an investigation, compliance review, hearing or any other activity related to the administration of any federal, state or local law requiring equal employment opportunity; (3) opposed any act or practice made unlawful by any federal, state or local law requiring equal opportunity; or (4) exercised any other legal right protected by federal, state or local law requiring equal opportunity.

The above-mentioned policies shall be periodically brought to the attention of supervisors and shall be appropriately administered. It is the responsibility of each supervisor of the company to ensure affirmative implementation of these policies to avoid any discrimination in employment. All employees are expected to recognize these policies and cooperate with their implementation. Violation of these policies could be considered a disciplinary offense.

Disclaimer:
This job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee. Other duties, responsibilities, and activities may change or be assigned at any time with or without notice.