Executive Director Montessori School

Montessori Kids Universe is a Montessori and Reggio Emilia based education program for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years. MKU Director should have a passion for working with and assisting children as well as strong leadership skills. A positive attitude and an enthusiasm for the job are important when working with the young children. They must have excellent communication skills and the ability to exercise judgement. The director of an MKU franchise must also ensure that the facility meets its parent organization’s standards and regulations.

Responsibilities:

1. Maintain a safe, orderly environment for adults and children.
2. Authorize expenditures within budget approved by Owner. 

3. Work with families to notify enrollment acceptance, or placement on waiting list.

4. Attend and arrange for meetings with the Owner. 

5. Maintain licensing requirements of Codes for the facilities. 

6. Represent and interpret school program to the community.
7. Set up appointments and tours with parents, answer all inquiries and follow up every contact with Childcare CRM protocol.

Staff Responsibilities
In supervising and supporting the teaching staff, the Executive Director will:

1. Provide a sounding board for teaching staff. 


2. Monitor and attend Monthly teacher meetings. 


3. Participate in parent conferences as needed. 


4. Meet individually with faculty/staff as needed. 


5. Help provide resources for the teaching staff. 


6. Evaluate with the staff their in-service training needs and find, or help plan for, training experiences to meet these needs. 


7. Help facilitate communication between staff members, and between staff and parents. 


8. Provide list of substitute teachers so that teachers may contact, with approval of the Executive Director, their own substitutes. 


9. Participate in the interviewing and hiring of faculty and staff as designated in the School’s Hiring Procedures. 


Parent Responsibilities: The director often serves as the 'face' of the school, managing communication with parents and the community. The director executes the school's policies and communicates them to parents. Directors also often meet with parents of prospective students to determine whether the school is a good fit for the family.

1. Be available at scheduled times for conferences, informal conversations, or phone calls with parents. 


2. Be available at other times for unscheduled talks with parents when needed. In these contacts, serve as a listener, a consultant, a trouble-shooter, or a communicator of school procedure or policy, as appropriate to the situation.

3. Help set tone that allows and encourages parent involvement in the school. 


4. Attend parent meetings and help plan activities. 


5. Maintain a parent handbook to acquaint parents with school program, procedures, policies, services, events, calendar, tuition, staff, etc. 


Public Relations and Community Responsibilities

1. Seek out Montessori materials and files, or prepare new materials as possible and needed, to assist the Owner in public education efforts, recruitment, or parent education. 


2. Design advertising, update website and brochures, and assess printing needs in conjunction with the MKU Franchise Support Team.

3. Be available for interviews at public relations events for the school. 


Financial Responsibilities

1. The director must assist the owner in the financial management of the center including developing the budget, overseeing the accounting, accounts payable and receivable.

2. The director also assists the owner developing marketing plan for the center, developing public relations and advertising campaigns as necessary.

3. The Director has primary responsibility for recruitment of new students.

Educational Community Responsibilities

1. Maintain relationship with the private schools in the city. 


2. Research and stay informed about expectations of local public and private schools for children of various ages or grade levels. 


3. Be a resource for staff, parents, and Owner about educational issues that are relevant to them. 


4. Maintain correspondence and other requirements of relationships with American Montessori Society, NAMTA and other professional member organizations.

5. Meet State regulations. 


Qualifications:

1. Minimum five (5) years experience as a director or assistant director in a childcare center.

2. Familiarity with Virginia licensing requirements.

3. A passion for working with children

4. Strong leadership and communication skills

Experience with social media marketing