In the news:

• Celebrating 30 Years of Care
• Emergency Planning and Communication
• Board Business: Save the Date

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May 16, 2016 - Network Child Care Board Meeting

Congratulations to the following centers for achieving NAEYC re-accreditation:

• US Kids, Washington DC
• Tundra Tykes, Anchorage, AK

April is Autism Awareness month.  Every year, autism organizations around the world celebrate this month with fundraising and awareness raising events. For more information on autism for educators, click here

Quote of the Month:

Play gives children a chance to practice what they are learning.” -Mr. Rogers

Find out more about GSA Child Care:

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Celebrating 30 Years of Care

Congratulations to the Kathy Herward Child Care Center for reaching a significant milestone-providing quality child care to IRS and local families in the Andover, MA for 30 years!! When the center opened in February 1987, the capacity was 30 children.   After a 2006 renovation, the center expanded to serving 74 children.  This was the first IRS facility in the country to provide work-site child care for employees.  

To commemorate 30 years at the IRS Service Center, the child care center shared memorabilia that included  “Meet the Graduates” with pictures and writeups of several graduates that attended the Kathy Herward Child Care Center.  Congratulations to Jennifer Lacroix, Director and Paula Leger, Assistant Director both have managed this center for  29 years.  Through their leadership they have a long standing committed staff that provides quality care to the children and families of the IRS Service Center and community.  

On behalf of the Kathy Herward Child Care Center they want to express their sincere appreciation to the IRS Service Center for their support throughout the years.

Emergency Planning and Communication

In a recent Child Care Aware poll, over 45% of parents reported their child care center’s emergency plan was not communicated to them? Ensuring the safety of children in your care is the most important job of child care professionals. Think about how well you have communicated your planning efforts to parents. Child Care Aware’s new resource for parents, Is Your Child Care Program Ready, offers 10 questions parents should ask their child care provider related to emergency preparedness planning.  This publication is a good starting point for Child Care Providers to self-evaluate their emergency plans and processes. Read the questions on Preliminary Child Care Emergency Preparedness Survey Data, March 2017 on http://usa.childcareaware.org/2017/03/parents-child-care-program-prepared/

Nett, H. (2017). Parents: Is Your Child Care Program Prepared? Child Care Aware of America. Retrieved from: http://usa.childcareaware.org/2017/03/parents-child-care-program-prepared/

Board Business: Save the Date

Our next Board Networking conference call has been scheduled for Tuesday May 16th at 1:00 pm, EST, so please save the date and plan to join us. 

The topic, which was requested by the participants during our last Networking call, will be “The Boards Role in Affordability”.  There are many aspects to this topic that we will be discussing, including:

• The difference between financial stability and financial viability
• Reviewing financial reports
• The need for tuition increases
• The difference between for-profit and non-profit Providers
• Fundraising and tuition assistance programs
• Knowing the market rate for your center
• Enrollment rates and percentages

So, please plan to join us and come prepared to share lessons learned and best practices from your Board.  Registration information for this center will be e-mailed by the end of this month, so be on the lookout for that e-mail.