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Dear Directors,
We wanted to make sure you were aware of two important upcoming occurrences. 1. Annual licensing visits will start again soon. Here is a link to that Inspection process. 2. If you have a Job Opening, send C3 your job announcement and it will be posted on our job board and sent out to centers on our mailing list.
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Dear Fellow Directors,
Over the last few years, networking and supporting each other has benefited everyone. Previously, our face to face director meetings were a way to connect and share about our common director experiences. When the pandemic started, I felt so fortunate to have our email list. The connection we were able to form through email helped keep so many of us informed about the COVID guidelines and best practices to ensure everyone’s health and safety. Through the pandemic, we learned that we truly are stronger together and that it is so important we have the ability to make our voices heard. In an attempt to continue this connection and also provide support and mentoring for center directors and teachers, a group of early childhood professionals has started a non-profit called C3 Creating Change for Children. This organization is directed toward North County centers (and SD County) interested in networking, being a part of Community of Practices, professional development/training and mentoring. The goal is to uplift the field of early education and care in our community. It became very apparent how important our field is to the community as families struggled through the pandemic. And yet, even as it is so obvious what a crucial role we play in both educating and caring for young minds as well as enabling our society to run smoothly by providing care for children while their parents work, we are still facing many challenges to our profession. It is our responsibility to be one voice and become involved in advocating for our profession. And there currently important issues for which to advocate. Funding for centers with state contracts has been moved from the Dept. of Education to the Dept. of Social Services where Community Care Licensing is housed. While this does not directly affect centers who are not state-funded, it is important because of the apparent implications of the manner in which the move in funding is occurring. Funding is being moved to a newly formed department under Social Services that is called “Child Care and Development.” You will notice, that they have both moved funding for our field out of the Department of Education and also stripped mention of the word “education” from the title. This new department’s title, I think, speaks to the idea of how our teachers are viewed. Our field is identified as “childcare” and what is missed, not because of the name, but because of the connotation surrounding the name, is the very essence of all we do. I know for myself, I have often fought the identification of “childcare provider,” explaining that we are teachers, that we provide education and care. Yet, as time has moved on, I have come to a different conclusion. I am proposing that we embrace the identification and term, but that WE define it. We need to create the narrative, whether you call yourself a preschool, childcare or child development center, and not object to the term childcare but identify as childcare professionals and fight for all we know is right in our field, for children, for families, and for ourselves. It is time for us to define what quality childcare looks like and who we are as childcare professionals. The importance of best practices in these early years is backed by research and the programs we provide are instrumental in providing young children what they need to develop and grow, while also caring for children while their families are working in the community. If we work together, we can change that narrative and demonstration to our community that we are childcare professionals committed to providing children quality care and education. Our organization, C3 Creating Change for Children, is a non-profit whose aim is to act as a vehicle for our work to define and raise the quality of our profession. We invite all of you to join us in this journey. We ask you join us: First, please take some time to explore our website and see how you can become involved and how our organization can benefit you, your center, and your staff. Review the page on becoming a Supporter, and how to become a Site Supporter, encourage your experienced teachers to become mentors, request a mentor for your site or an individual teacher or attend a training and become involved in promoting our field and profession. An email with training opportunities was recently sent. You can see our training schedule on the website as well. There is also a Director’s Corner with information and ideas relevant to all of us. Second, we will be hosting a special Director’s Zoom. Please join us to learn more about our organization, how we can support you, and ways to join us in our advocacy. |
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