Professional Learning Communities offered by StrongStart Professional Development Centers

As center-based, out of school time, and family child care programs prepare to reopen, educators, owners, and administrators are now faced with meeting new needs related to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the coming weeks, the StrongStart Professional Development Centers will offer in-depth learning and on-going support to programs through Professional Learning Communities (PLC). For more information about upcoming PLCs, please read on.  

Deciding to Reopen: Understanding the New EEC Health & Safety Requirements, 3 sessions

Let’s unpack the new EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening! Participants will:

  • Review the categories of the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening

  • Deepen their understanding of the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening

  • Learn the steps needed for reopening

  • Develop strategies for implementing the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening, including communicating with families and maintaining social distancing during routine care and transitions

  • Develop preparedness plan for reopening

Getting Ready to Reopen: Financial Considerations for Your Business, 3 sessions

Program owners and administrators will learn the basics of business practices that support the short-term goal of reopening during Covid-19 and long-term goal of financial stability. In this PLC, you will determine the cost of sustaining your business under EEC reopening guidelines by examining:

  • Your cost of operating under new health and safety guidelines related to

    • Increased facilities/maintenance costs

    • Financial effects of enrollment in a COVID environment

    • Maintaining a staff to meet health and safety guidelines

  • Your cost of staying in business

    • Fixed versus flexible expenses

    • Does your revenue sufficiently cover your costs?

  • Gap Analysis

    • How sustainable is this model?

    • What financial supports do I need to stay in business long-term?

    • What other supports am I going to need?

  • Advocating for your financial sustainability

    • How do I use this data?

Support After Reopening: Putting the New EEC Health & Safety Requirements into Practice, 5 sessions

This PLC focuses on supporting programs and their staff with operating under the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening after they have opened. Participants will:

  • Discuss what strategies they have successfully implemented to maintain the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening

  • Discuss the challenges of operating under the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening

  • Revisit their preparedness plans and identify areas that need to be adapted now that practices are in place

  • Test new strategies for adhering to the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening,

  • including maintaining social distancing during routine care and transitions, communicating with families, and supporting the developmental needs of children

Beginning Again: Tools for Promoting the Social Emotional Wellness of Children, Families & Staff, 4 sessions

This PLC provides the opportunity to utilize perspective-taking, self-reflection, and shared reflection in preparation for child care settings to reopen. Participants will examine ways to follow the new EC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening while keeping staff, children, and families emotionally safe.
Content will include strategies to:

  • Consider the levels of emotional needs in staff, families, and children

  • Consider multiple points of view when creating action plans

  • Promote a sense of connection and community within the program

  • Perform mandated procedures in a low-stress manner

  • Build one's own resilience in times of change

Communicating with Families about the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening, 4 sessions

This PLC focuses on supporting early educators with communicating with families in the new context of Covid-19 and the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening. Participants will:

  • Develop strategies for discussing the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening with families
    Review the protocols and requirement for greeting children and families at pick-up and drop off
    Discuss strategies for communicating with families while maintaining physical distance
    Identify resources for families to support their physical and mental health
    Develop strategies for addressing families who do not comply with the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements

Strategies to Promote Social Distancing, 5 sessions

This PLC will support programs with practices that maintain social distancing. Participants will:

  • Develop strategies for organizing their environment to maintain social distancing

  • Test strategies for maintaining social distancing during outside play, meals, naps, and indoor activities

  • Practice developmentally appropriate strategies for communicating with children about the purpose of social distancing

  • Test strategies for supporting children’s social-emotional needs while maintaining social distancing

Program Administration During Covid-19, 4 sessions

This PLC will support program administrators with the nuts and bolts of managing their programs in light of the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements. Participants will:

  • Develop policies for their staff handbook that address the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements

  • Establish protocols for isolation and discharge of sick children and staff and immediate program closure

  • Establish protocols for staff absence and sickness unrelated to Covid-19

  • Create a plan to address capacity and enrollment

  • Practice strategies for communicating with families about the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements

  • Develop strategies for supporting the resilience and well-being of staff

The StrongStart Professional Development Centers will also offer:

Regional Coffee Chat, 1.5 hours per week

Drop in with a coach at the PDC to discuss the challenges in your daily work. Strategize new approaches to implementing the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening, meet and receive support from other early educators in your region, connect with other resources and supports for your work. The themes of these meetings will be determined by the needs of the participants and data gathered from the field through other TA supports.

Regional Coffee Chat for Family Child Care Providers, 1.5 hours per week per

Drop in with a coach at the PDC to discuss the challenges in your daily work. Strategize new approaches to implementing the EEC Minimum Health & Safety Requirements for Reopening, meet and receive support from other early educators in your region, connect with other resources and supports for your work. The themes of these meetings will be determined by the needs of the participants and data gathered from the field through other TA supports.

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