| Job Summary: |
The Center Manager provides leadership and supervision of center staff and manages all aspects of center operations to assure quality services for early childhood Head Start and Early Head Start programs.
Direct Services:
1. Increases community awareness of Head Start. Advocates for families and Child-Parent Centers through community activities and interaction with other agencies and schools.
2. Recruits eligible Head Start families and assists potential enrollees in completing enrollment process and obtaining needed services.
3. Initiates and participates in the completion and maintenance of enrollment records and waiting list of eligible children to insure funded enrollment levels are met.
4. Promotes active parent involvement by planning, implementing and evaluating activities that include monthly parent meetings, workshops, training and reporting.
5. Attends Policy Council and advisory committee meetings, as required.
6. Assures families receive appropriate referrals when their needs exceed teaching staff resources, as appropriate. Assures referrals are recorded and monitored for completion and delivery of services.
7. As necessary, schedules and assists with children's screenings and other services.
Leadership and Supervision:
1. Supervises and evaluates all center staff (teaching, food service, custodial, and driving staff as applicable). Provides second level supervision for co-teachers.
2. Reviews observations/recommendations and collaborates in professional development plans.
3. Assures the inclusion of all agency departments and the policies and practices by working with agency administrative staff. 4. Leads and facilitates the Program Services Cross-disciplinary team meetings (Health and Nutrition Services, Children's Services) in providing support to center staff to insure high quality services to children and families.
5. Forms and maintains working relationships within the agency departments--Human Resources, Accounting, and Physical Resources, to assure effective and efficient center operation.
6. Facilitates conflict-resolution process; informs and involves appropriate staff member(s), as needed.
7. Plans and conducts regular staff meetings.
8. Reviews site-visit findings and participates in developing improvement plans related to health, safety, food services, and program services.
9. Directs the planning and coordination of special center projects.
10. Identifies emerging problems, initiates requests for additional assistance, and participates in on-going improvements to program policies and procedures.
11. Reviews educational enrollment of staff; approves higher education course work within agency guidelines. Supports achievement of education goals of staff.
12. Leads, as Hiring Authority, in center employment interviews and makes recommendations on terminations, as required.
Community and Professional Relationships:
1. Plays a key leadership role in promoting the agency and Head Start in the community to assure public awareness of Head Start and its requirements.
2. Maintains a working knowledge of federal, state, and local government affairs as relates to children, families, education, and social policy and assures the delivery of quality services as related to achieving federal, state and agency guidelines.
3. Forms working relationships with a wide variety of community agencies and the public schools.
4. Following agency guidelines, advocates for the needs of Head Start children and families at local, state, and national levels.
Reporting and Record Keeping:
1. Prepares initial child/family file for each child at their center; documents delivery of services to individual families.
2. Responsible for data entry of children's application information into database
3. Reports safety, health and parent issues to the assigned Program Services Coordinator and appropriate department personnel and enters into the Critical Issues Database.
4. Monitors completion and accuracy of ERSEA (Eligibility, Recruitment, Selection, Enrollment and Attendance) requirements.
5. Monitors completion and accuracy of child /family files and personnel files.
6. Monitors and submits documentation as needed to all departments.
7. Maintains an updated community resource and referral file.
8. Reviews, tracks and monitors Center Profile data.
Training:
1. Provides Program Services training; center officers, parent assembly orientation, recruitment and enrollment, procedures review, and child development education, for staff and parents, as required.
2. Orients new staff, substitutes, and volunteers to center requirements and conditions.
Center Operations:
1. Directs and coordinates center operations within agency policies and budgetary limits.
2. Identifies and remedies all safety issues; completes workman's compensation report of injury. Notifies appropriate administrative staff regarding all immediate health and safety concerns.
3. Takes the lead as the agency's representative and the responsible party for the center, for all center inspections and licensing activities, and insures that state licensing and agency standards for facility are met.
4. Supervises maintenance of the center and center transportation services.
5. Monitors center food service program.
6. Performs a wide variety of activities concerning substitutes (including babysitters) and volunteers. This includes recruitment, completing required paperwork, center orientation, and scheduling.
7. Acts as liaison with facility owner or manager.
8. Provides other support activities, including answering the phone, scheduling center activities and visitors, escorting visitors, managing center run/mail and notices to parents, etc.
Other:
1. If hired as a bilingual person provides bilingual support as needed.
2. In limited situations, is required to substitute in the classroom, kitchen, maintenance or other areas for staff that are absent.
Supervise: Center Staff |