IWF extends a special thank you to our 2022 Grantee Partner, Hawkeye Community College Foundation, for writing this guest blog and sharing more about the Foundation’s work to raise funding for scholarships, assistance in educational opportunities, staff equipment and development, and other support services, such as child care.
Guest Contribution from Hawkeye Community College Foundation:
There is much to celebrate as new child care centers are set to open in the Cedar Valley and surrounding communities. With families all over Iowa struggling to find child care, these centers will help alleviate some of the child care shortages that also contribute to workforce challenges.
A partnership with the Iowa Women’s Foundation (IWF) made it possible for Hawkeye Community College to create a Child Care Director Training course that aims to support and advance entrepreneurial child care skills that will contribute to the success of these new centers.
IWF funds will allow qualifying students to take the training course at a discounted rate, improving accessibility, and furthering a mother’s goals and economic stability, while also filling an urgent need for child care providers.
The training program is approved by National Administrator Credential (NAC) and National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA), giving course participants a chance to learn what it takes to become a director, learning and collaborating with experts in the field.
Course participants were asked for feedback about the training course and its impact below.
What are the top two ideas you learned from this course?
- “Setting up handbooks and policies”
- “Hiring processes”
- “Safety plan for trips away from school, purchasing quality over quantity”
- “How to navigate Quickbooks, entering bills and invoices into Quickbooks”
- “I saved several supplemental documents provided for staff training”
- “Payroll”
- “Information on emergency procedures and handbooks”
- “I learned a lot of DHS guidelines and a rough price it would take to build a center”
- “How to utilize the Quickbooks online platform to organize business financials”
- “That as a director it’s okay to delegate to other staff or the on-site supervisor”
How are you going to implement what you learned into your daily work or life?
- “Using practical lessons as a daily guide”
- “Continue to review and update policies, procedures, and documentation”
- “Possibly utilizing Quickbooks at the new center!”
- “Rewrite my handbook”
- “Currently continue working as the on-site supervisor and help my director to learn the ropes of running our preschool center”
- “Continue using Quickbooks more efficiently with more understanding”
- “I will use it as we open our new center to be a well-rounded, organized director with resources I need in the future”
