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Tips From the Field
Building Staff Camaraderie
Department of Labor- A Comprehensive Approach to Quality Care
The Executive Child Development Center (ECDE)-School Age Care
Federal Children's Center (FCC) of Northern Virginia-- USDA Food
Internal Revenue Service (ISR) Child Development
Just Us Kids-- Museum Magic Curriculum
Switzer Child Development Center-Parent Involvement PTA
Building Staff Camaraderie
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Child Care Center. The FTC Center is
a General Services administration Center located in Washington D.C.
The FTC Center promotes staff camaraderie, staff professionalism,
consistent training, director and staff support, and staff flexibility. The
staff truly believes the children "come first" and the staff members are
the educators that work together to establish a positive environment. The
center staff is a complete team. The team building begins when an
employee is interviewed and continues with consistent staff training and
director support for staff members. They are true professionals who bring
problems to the table and " talk it out". Problems do not have a chance
to develop because they are dealt with right away-before hard feelings
build up. Individual staff awards for outstanding team effort and support
are a key ingredient of success. As they cultivate the team, everyone's
job is easier and less time consuming. Staff camaraderie reduces
turnover, resulting in reduced costs for reeducation. A pleasant,
confident and caring staff produces happy parents and children. Parents
know they can get information about their child from any staff member
and find this very comforting. This is a continuing effort and takes
considerable time to implement, but once it is place it is well worth it! It
requires patience and pride in a job well done by everyone.
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Department of Labor- A Comprehensive Approach to Quality Care
The Esther Peterson Child Development Center is a General Services
Administration Center, located in the Frances Perkins Building in
downtown Washington, D.C. The child care center is sponsored by the
Department of Labor (DOL). DOL looked at three areas to improve the
center for employees. 1. They addressed affordability by starting an
agency tuition subsidy. This allows low- income DOL employees to take
advantage of quality child care for their young children. Financial
assistance was offered to 141 parents nationwide in FY 00. 2. The
Esther Peterson Child Development Center was expanded so they could
care for more children. The DOL renovated the child care center, adding
3,200 additional square feet to the center. The capacity was increased
from 76 to 124 child spaces. 3. Staff quality was improved with a new
initiative to provide agency training of child care workers through a
collaborative effort with YMCA, District of Columbia Child Development,
and DOL. The Child Care Worker Training program is a Welfare to Work
initiative. Staff work toward CDA credentialing and college coursework
and credit. Training occurs on the job in YMCA centers. FOR MORE
INFORMATION CONTACT: Cheryl Robinson, 202-219-5710 # 166
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The Executive Child Development Center (ECDE)-School
The ECDC is a General Service Administration (GSA) Center sponsored
by the national Institute of Health. It is located in Rockville, Maryland.
The ECDE initially provided child care to children ages two through five.
Subsequently, they set up the first GSA sponsored school-age program.
It started with a single classroom for 20 children and was designed to
meet a critical need for school-age care in the area. In three years, the
school-age capacity increased to 100. The program now taps local
resources to support school-age transportation needs. FOR MORE
INFORMATION CONTACT: Anne Schmitz, 301-496-9411
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Federal Children's Center (FCC) of Northern Virginia-- USDA Food
This General Services Administration Child Care Center is located in Northern Virginia. The Federal Children's Center (FCC) participates in the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Child and Adult Care Food Program. They became involved with this program in 1988. Although the initial start- up process took time, it is easy to administer the program now that it is established. To become involved in the program you need to submit an application to the USDA. After the application is approved, your organization must solicit bids from local food vendors. You are required to pick the vendor with the lowest bid, and all special considerations must be met. For instance, the FCC Center is a peanut free center and none of the foods provided by the vendor can contain peanuts or be cooked in peanut oils. Once a vendor is chosen you have an option of renewing the contract with them for up to three years. A new application must be filed each year with USDA. FCC offers a light breakfast, lunch and afternoon snack for children 1 year and older. Formula is offered to children ages birth to 1 year old. Specific USDA guidelines must be followed regarding portion sizes and types of food.
Classroom teachers keep track of daily attendance and meal counts, actually counting each child being offered food at each meal. They also make sure children are offered the right amount of food, depending on the age of the child. A report is sent to USDA each month. By participating in this program FCC brings in approximately $12,000 per year. This money has allowed them to raise teacher salaries and buy equipment for classrooms. They also provide healthy and nutritious meals to the children at the center.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: Amy Thompson, 703-471-2821
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Internal Revenue Service (ISR) Child Developmen)
The IRS Center is a General Services Administration Center located in
Lanham, Maryland. They have taken the use of dramatic play boxes to
new heights. They use large boxes for dramatic play boxes. The boxes
offer children vehicles to develop and extend their imaginative play. The
children are very much a part of the creative process. The teachers
discuss the focus of the current project and with the children to find out
the children's base of knowledge and find out how interested the children
are in the project. Together the teachers and children decide the props
that will go into the boxes to support the children's play. Teachers
interact with the children to assure that positive productive play occurs.
Dramatic prop boxes also give teachers an opportunity to develop and
use their creativity. They paint the prop boxes and decide how the boxes
may be used as teaching/facilitating tools. Prop boxes are also a
wonderful way to extend literacy experiences and they are cost effective.
They require imagination, paint and purpose, and bits and pieces of
anything that facilitates the projects. These boxes are always effective
teaching resources. Dramatic play boxes are also a great
teacher-training tool. Teachers can spend an evening creating their own
dramatic play boxes; then playing with and in the boxes to get in touch
with their own inner child. During the culminating activity, teachers
analyze how they felt during the experience, and determine how they
can use their newly developed teaching products in their classrooms.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT: 202-283-5120
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Just Us Kids-- Museum Magic Curriculum
Just Us Kids is a General Services Administration Center located in
Washington D.C. They use a curriculum that is based on the resources
of a local museum.. It is an open-ended, hands-on curriculum that uses
the museum to extend learning opportunities for children. While children
can easily learn concepts like shapes in the classroom, children can
explore the concept of "circle" by examining real wheels at the museum
train or bicycle exhibits. Museums are unquestionably rich learning
environments. With a museum curriculum an individual teacher does not
have to become an "expert" on the museums in order to use it
effectively. This curriculum suggests items to bring to the museums to
use when examining an exhibit to enrich the museum experience for the
children by linking familiar objects with unfamiliar objects. FOR MORE
INFORMATION CONTACT: 202-219-3200
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Switzer Child Development Center-Parent Involvement PTA
The Switzer Child Development Center is a General Service
Administration center located in Washington D.C. It is cosponsored by
the Departments of Education and Health and Human Services. The
Parent Teacher Association started in 2000. The PTA two co-chairs, a
Room representative Coordinator, a fundraising chair, a workshop
coordinator, and approximately 10 staff participants. Meetings are
scheduled on the first Wednesday of every month. The initial budget was
$ 0.00. The Center's Board of Directors provided a $ 250.00 start-up
grant and with parent donations, and a few fundraisers, the budget has
increased to $ 400.00. The goals of the PTA are to: (1) increase
membership to 75% of the Center's participants; (2) increase the budget
for next year's PTA to $ 1,500.00; (3) sponsor at least two Center-wide
"spirit" activities; (4) sponsor at least on staff and one parent workshop;
(5) supplement teachers' holiday bonuses; and (6) develop creative
teacher appreciation awards. The PTA organized a Fall Festival for the
children, parents, and staff in October. There were creative and
educational games, a visit from the Deputy Secretary and a Fall
Festival Walk throughout the Departments of Education and Health and
Human Services. In November, the PTA co-sponsored a Thanksgiving
Day Feast with Georgetown Hill. During the month of December, the
PTA coordinated the Center's efforts to provide holiday bonuses to the
staff. In addition to supplementing the staffs' bonuses, the PTA wrote
individual thank you notes to the staff expressing the parents'
appreciation for all that they do. This spring the PTA will work with the
Center Director to develop welcome packets and contacts for new
families to " ease their transition into daycare. The PTA also plams to
present workshops on transitioning parents/ children into daycare,
discipline, and developing a child's interest in reading, art, etc. The PTA
also plans to strengthen the Center's ties to the new Secretaries of
Education and Health and Human Services. Finally, the PTA hopes to
spearhead many family-fun projects as an Easter photo shoot and egg
hunt, Family Day, a teacher appreciation week luncheon put on by the
children and parents. There is much that the PTA wants to do and, with
a little luck and a lot of parent participation, it will happen!
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Running a Program 
