Naples Park Early Childhood Education Manager
Grace Place for Children and Families · Naples, Florida, United States
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