August 23, 2010

Dear Wonders Families,

Welcome to the 2010-2011 school year!  I am always struck each August with how quickly the year flies by.  It is particularly poignant for me this year as I take my son to college for the first time.  This new period in my family’s life is certainly bringing about lots of changes.   As I think about the changes, I recognize my mixed emotions – excitement, hope, worry and sense of loss.  I know my son is feeling many of these same things and more.  So even as I try to imagine what the house is going to be like after dropping him off, I know my most important job as a parent is to be steady and reassuring for him as he launches into this new phase of life.

All the teachers and staff at Wonders appreciate their roles in your children’s lives; providing steady reassurance and emotional support as each child learns and grows.  There are many ways that teachers learn about and understand each child; through observation, conversation, play, reflection and partnerships with parents.  These carefully constructed practices are a part of what makes Wonders classrooms and programs the connected and engaging environments that they are.

A critical element to the professional climate at Wonders is the organizational commitment to teachers’ ongoing learning and growth.  This is a shared value among all of the Wonders teachers and staff.  Wonders requires 18 hours of continued training, 12 of which must be approved by the state of Maryland.   Over the years there has been a noticeable decline in the number and quality of offerings that fulfill the state requirement for professional development.   After much discussion with colleagues in the community, we felt Wonders could help fill this void.  Over the summer Wonders applied for and was approved by the Maryland State Office of Child Care to provide training to child care providers.  The Wonders Professional Development Consortium will bring engaging professional development training to Wonders staff and the early childhood and school age communities.  Mission statement for the Consortium:

The Wonders Professional Development Consortium provides:

·         Reflective learning experiences that support adults who are committed to creating effective environments for children’s learning and development.

·         Evidence based courses for early childhood and school-age professionals and parents that encourage critical thinking and intentional teaching around relationships, democracy, equity and social justice.

·         Coursework designed to respect the adult learner that includes opportunities for ongoing reflection, support and networking.

The Wonders Mentor Program will be integrated into the Professional Development Consortium.  The Mentor Program will focus on modeling, coaching and reflection.  In our Early Childhood Program, Liza Pringle, former Wonders head teacher and assistant director will lead the ECE Mentor Program as the master teacher.  Liza will work directly with teachers, mentoring in the classrooms to further advance our teaching practices.  The School Age Mentor Program will utilize Wonders Program Directors who have recently participated in training on facilitation of the professional development learning process.

All training this year will integrate reflective learning practices.  This model of adult learning was reinforced for us at this past spring’s Reflective Teaching Institute, led by Debbie Curtis and Margie Carter, national leaders in teacher training.  We will begin this practice during Wonders staff development week with the 1.5 day training, “Wondrous Places to Learn and Grow”.

Additionally, Wonders will be adding a new middle school program.  We will be coordinating the Westland Middle School WOW After School Activities Program, a multi-faceted enrichment program that runs three days a week at Westland Middle School.  We were invited to take this on after word had spread about the success of our Somerset WOW Program. This is an exciting new endeavor that expands our program offerings.

Even with this programmatic growth, Wonders has endured changes due to the continued recession.  Wonders, along with child care providers across the nation, has felt the pressure of lower enrollment and reduced revenue.  As the Wonders administrative team and Board of Directors manage these challenges, we continue to make informed decisions that reflect Wonders’ values and mission.  We continue to be committed to the children, families and staff who are at the core of our mission, recognizing that the mission would be meaningless if we were not mindful of ensuring Wonders’ sustainability. 

We will continue to staff all the programs according to actual enrollment and will regularly review these decisions to make sure the classrooms and programs reflect Wonders’ learning goals.  Wonders will maintain our higher than average salary scale to promote quality and continuity of care as well as a living wage for our teachers and staff.  We will carefully monitor our spending on program materials and administrative costs.  Additionally, we are actively increasing our visibility through strategic marketing.

As a nonprofit child care organization, we are accountable to a variety of stakeholders.  The challenge is meeting our obligation to children, families, staff, licensing agencies, accrediting bodies, and the fiscal health of the organization with limited resources and growing expectations.  I am confident that with our combined efforts, Wonders will continue to be an amazing learning environment for children and a vibrant workplace for teachers and staff.

I look forward to launching another year with you!

Sincerely,

Joanne Hurt

Executive Director