Academy Director

Lionheart Children's Academy; Sylvania (OH); On-site; USD 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

The Lionheart Children's Academy seeks an Academy Director to oversee all aspects of operations, ensure state licensing compliance, and promote corporate values and vision. You will report to the Regional Director and lead a team including Community Director, Assistant Director, Lead Teachers and support staff.

You will develop strong church and parent partnerships, drive enrollment planning, marketing and strategic fundraising, and mentor staff to deliver excellent care and education in

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree preferred in a related field.
• 3-5 years' experience as an Academy Director for a licensed child care facility.
• Academic experience with infant, toddler, pre-school and/or elementary teaching.
• Key expertise includes licensing, marketing, recruitment, staff supervision, operations and customer service.
• Experience with CACFP preferred and proficiency in MS Office and CRM systems.

Responsibilities

• Promote and uphold the academy's vision, mission and core values.
• Provide strategic leadership and oversee academy operations and staffing.
• Foster strong relations with staff, churches, parents, students, vendors and the community.
• Ensure compliance with state licensing and CACFP requirements.
• Collaborate with Regional Director and HR on performance, development and staffing.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

People management

Marketing

Relationship building

Education

Bachelor's degree preferred

3-5 years experience as Academy Director

Academic experience with infant to elementary

Licensing compliance knowledge

CRM & MS Office proficiency

Tools

CRM systems

Microsoft Office

Outlook

Excel

Job description

The Academy Director will be responsible for managing all aspects of academy operations and meeting the state licensing requirements as outlined in the Minimum Standards for Child Care Centers.The Academy Director will promote and instill corporate values, vision and goals.The Academy Director will foster and maintain positive relationships with academy staff, key host church staff, parents, students, vendors and the local community while providing strategic leadership and oversight of the academy.

The Academy Director will report directly to the Regional Director and have direct reports from Community Director, Assistant Director, Lead Teachers and all other academy support staff.

Visionary Leadership

• Promote and maintain the vision, mission and core values of Lionheart Children's Academy.
• Exercise both professional and spiritual leadership and focus to ensure that the goals and vision for the academy maintain priority.
• Ensure that the culture of the academy is dynamic, inspiring and fun.

Church Relations

• Cultivate and develop strong relationships with church partners to maintain their satisfaction and ensure their goals are achieved.
• Contribute to reports on progress and meet with Regional Director to assess effectiveness.
• Maintain regular communications with key church contacts with academy updates and spiritual highlights.
• Assist in marketing efforts to cultivate additional church partners.
• Develop and strengthen partnerships with teachers, educational specialists, school/district administrators, churches and parent/teacher organizations.
• Produceeffective marketing plans and other direct marketing strategies to achieve and maintain enrollment goals.
• Consistently grow the academy through on-going marketing and promotion of the academy.
• Work closely with the Regional Director and National Office on production of collateral, social media strategies, web content, etc. for promotion and operation of the academy.
• Recruit, hire, and train exceptional academy staff.
• Provide leadership to academy leadership and academy staff- including spiritual nurturing, coaching, mentoring, encouragement, educational and professional development - to ensure that they are passionate and joy-filled as they lead others.
• Be available to Academy leadership, staff, parents and church leaders for resourcing and/or problem-solving.
• Evaluate and document Academy staff job performance, development plans and compensation recommendations. Collaboratewith NO and regional on all HR issues.
• Actively participate in key professional organizations so as to enrich personal and professional development.
• Ensure that all staff havethe LCA New Employee Orientation and state required training.
• Travel, as requested, to trainings, staff development events,new academy openings, etc.for support and ongoing training and development.

General Operations

• Implement and oversee all operating standards, processes and systems necessary to effectively operate academy to achieve stated outcomes.
• Ensure compliance with all licensing requirements and federal and state laws related to academy operations.
• Conduct annual tuition rate survey in order to adjust tuition rates, based on child care trends in the area.
• Work with National Office to leverage opportunities to receive competitive quotes from new vendors for products and services.
• Enforce tuition requirements and resolve problems for non-payment, when necessary.
• Ensure that information in the faculty, polices, and handbook remains relevant and up to date.
• Ensure compliance with federal and state Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) requirements, including oversight of meal service, recordkeeping, and staff training related to food program operations.
• Visit classrooms on a daily basis to ensure adherence to corporate and academy goals, standards and objectives.
• Maintain daily/weekly/monthly checklists for licensing standards compliance.

Space & Equipment

• Planning for and equipping outdoor areas.
• Planning for and equipping indoor areas.
• Arranging for custodial care, maintenance, and repairs.
• Do playground, bus, and facility inspections to make sure everything is safe and clean.
• Interviewing parents of prospective students.
• Use the CRM and1Core daily to meet enrollment and retention goals.
• Oversee other administrators use of CRM to ensure accuracy.
• Orientation of newly enrolled students.
• Familiarizing the parents of newly enrolled students with school policies.
• Being alert to enrollment needs at all times
• Update your monthly marketing calendar with both internal and external opportunities.
• Maintaining an advertising and public relations program to promote enrollments.

Parents

• Maintaining an active system of parent-school relationships.
• Planning and administering a parent-education program.
• Planning and administering a parent-participation program.
• Maintaining an open line of communication between parents and staff.
• Establishing and maintaining parents’ resource library.

Health

• Planning and implementing a health program for the school.
• Contacting recognized agencies that are able to help children with special needs.
• Maintaining a referral system for children who have special needs.

Safety

• Planning and implementing a safety program for the school.
• Must have licensing, Health and Fire regulations in good standing .
• Keeping informed of the school’s legal responsibilities and liabilities.
• Scheduling, conducting and recording fire and storm drills.
• Assuring that teachers plan activities to teach the children safety on an ongoing basis.
• Maintaining all vehicles and providing annual training for staff to ensure transportation safety.

Community Relationships

• Welcoming visitors to the school and arranging for the visits to be pleasant and worthwhile.
• Being available to community groups for public events that pertain to early childhood and to family life as a whole.
• Maintaining a liaison with representatives of various branches of local, state, and federal government for the purpose of supporting legislation concerned with education.

Planning, Budget & Forecasting

• Work closely with the VP of Operation to follow the Academy's annual financial plan including key outcomes and corresponding budget.
• Manage weekly/monthly billing using the academy's management software.
• Collect, post, and deposit tuition payments daily.
• Collect outstanding tuition and implement academy policies regarding such.
• Provide weekly tuition aging report to Academy Director.
• Provide timely and accurate weekly and monthly records and reports - to include bank deposits, billing reports, contact logs and call backs, etc. to Academy Director as requested.
• Adhere to budgetary guidelines - specifically accounts receivable, labor expenditures and food purchases.

Requirements

Background, Experience, and Education

• Bachelors Degree preferred
• 3-5 years experienceas Academy Director for a licensed child care facility
• Academic experience with infant, toddler, pre-school and/or elementary teaching
• Key expertise will include state licensing , marketing, recruitment and staff supervision, operations management and customer service
• Experience with or willingness to learn federal and state child nutrition program requirements (e.g., CACFP) preferred
• Experience with Microsoft office products, with proficiency in Outlook, Excel and/or other database management or CRM systems

Critical Gifts

• Spiritual maturity - committed and passionate follower of Jesus Christ
• Burning desire to reach children and parents
• People builder - proven ability to build teams, grow leaders, and create culture
• Excellent communication skills, both verbal and written
• Excellent customer-service skills and the ability to create effective partnerships with churches, families and staff
• Well-versed in child care accreditation and licensing standards