Summer Operating System for ECE Directors

Summer schedules create chaos in childcare centers when systems stay the same but the day changes. In this episode of Elevating ECE, we build a Summer Operating System to run smooth with mixed schedules and rotating staff — without burnout.

Download the June Monthly Packet: Summer Reset Toolkit (link below) and use Week 1: Summer Operating System.

We cover:

• summer non-negotiables
• daily rhythm that reduces behavior spikes
• coverage plan for high-risk dayparts
• leadership communication script
• weekly rhythm 

June Monthly Packet: Summer Reset Toolkit: https://api.leadconnectorhq.com/widget/form/BZeeSE0BXixW2svk815Q 

#ElevatingECE #ECELeadership #ChildcareDirector #PreschoolDirector #SummerProgram #TeacherSupport #ClassroomManagement #ECEOperations #ProgramQuality #SummerReset

Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:00

If someone feels like you're rebuilding your program every single morning, it's not because your team isn't capable, it's because mixed schedules create predictable risk points. And if you don't name them, you'll manage them on the fly all summer long.

SPEAKER_00 0:21

Elevate childhood education. Well, leaders right, children drive. And your program becomes a legal excellent.

SPEAKER_02 0:35

And hello and welcome back to another episode of Elevating ECE. And so I'm your host, Beatrice Hutcherson. And if this is your first time here, welcome. We're glad to have you as a part of the discussion. But we are talking about something special for the month of June. So welcome to June. In June, we are talking about a summer reset system. And so we're going to talk from different points of view. Every week we have a different area that we're going to tackle and address. And so today we're talking about your operating systems, right? So very, very important. And then each week we have a lineup for you of different topics that we're going to discuss to make sure that you are ready. Our last episode is going to be a fall launch, right? So we're going to talk about trainings, we're going to talk about systems. We're going to talk about everything that you need this month to set up well and to launch well in the new school year, and not to mention finish this month well. Today we're building your summer operating system the way high-quality programs do. We're going to first identify the risk, write the SOP for it, post the daily rhythm, and then protect the coverage. By the end of this episode, you will have your top three summer risk points selected. You'll have a one-page SOP drafted, ready to implement this week. And then you'll have a daily rhythm template that you can post for your staff to follow. And you'll have 10 coverage non-negotiables that keep staffing changes from turning into chaos. Let's talk about why summer feels harder than any other time in the year. Summer has different stressors, if you think about it, right? You have rotating staff and floaters coverage, you have mixed ages. Sometimes, if you offer after-school services or summer camp programs, you have a regular drop-off and pickup, you have schedule changes, sometimes midday, you have children and adults losing predictable routines. So many different moving pieces. Mixed schedules create predictable risk points in every early childhood program. So we're going to stop treating summer like random chaos, right? And then we're going to start treating it like operations. If we plan for it, then we'll be prepared for it. Chaos isn't a season, it's an unspoken system. If you ever see chaos, it's usually related to a broken system or lack thereof. Now let's talk about the five risk categories that you must stabilize absolutely in order to have a smooth running program. These five categories are supervision, and so that's new staff and irratios during transitions. Next is transitions, a regular arrival and pickup and unclear handoffs. Number three is your communication. Staff are not updated, parent notifications are inconsistent. Number four, we're going to talk about health and safety, right? You have outdoor hydration and shade and meds are disrupted, possibly. And then number five, behavior is what we're going to talk about. Challenges, behavior challenges, and people, children are unsettled due to all the changes. If you're listening, just write these five words down. Because in a minute, you'll choose your top three. So, what is a summer operating system? What does that look like? So we're going to talk about what it actually is. Your summer program or your summer operating system is not more rules, right? They're not another set of rules, but it's one page of clarity for your most common breakdown. So the goal here is that if you have a new staff member walk into a room on a busy day, they can still follow their plan. Why? Because you have a written SOP that's easy to follow. So that's why it's important. And that's why we're writing a one-page SOP today. Now let's do our live demonstration together here. And so what I did for you for the month of June is I created what I call the summer reset toolkit. And so today we're going to do the SOP template, right? Which is a part of that. So for this episode, episode one, where we're talking about the summer operating systems, we are going to build together, write an SOP that you can use and implement in your programs right away. So we're going to do it together, and I'm going to show it here on my screen, and you can grab something that you can write down on, or you can just download the link, it will be in the description where you can get your own toolkit. And it includes everything that we'll be talking about this week and the next three weeks. For the entire month of June, it will have everything. So the work list is going to point out our risk. So let me share my screen so that you can see this. And so this is the toolkit. And so this is to set you up for a strong fall launch. And so for this module, we're talking about the summer operating system. So I'm going to take you down to section A, which is what we're talking about. All right. So the first thing we're going to do is we're going to identify the top three summer risks that you have, right? So on the left, you'll see that there is the risk category, then it's the common risk point, then how it applies to your program, right? And so you're just going to kind of go through this and either say it's yes or no, or sometimes, because we want to identify your top three. So in the area of supervision, unfamiliar staff covering multiple age groups, right? That may be an issue. So you would say yes or no. Or sometimes supervision, sometimes you have substitutes that are in, you have floaters, you have uh staff that are with you only for the summer months. You may have summer youth workers working with you. So those types of things would cause there to be unfamiliar staff, right? To your existing students. And then you may have a summer program where you have other students come in that are from other age groups. So if that affects you, you would say yes. Another area uh within supervision is the float, the floater staff are unsure of the ratios during the transitions, right? So because they're not uh they're not your uh original staff or they're not common to your program, they may just be floating in or from another one of your uh another program in your uh in your agency or someone from the outside, right? Up there floating in, then they may not be aware of what the ratios are. And maybe things are too hectic for you to actually sit down and give them a training as they started, right? So then those things could also be impacted. So the float is not sure what the ratios are should be or should be during those transitions. So if that affects you, you would say yes or no. In reference to transitions, a regular drop-off or pickup windows, if you have any of those fluctuating, you would say yes. Another area within transitions that we can consider is extended day schedules with unclear handoffs, like who's gonna drop the child off or who they get dropped off to, right? So just showing inconsistencies throughout transitions. So if either of those reflect uh or relate to you, then you would pressure yes or tick off yes for those. Uh for communication. Staff are not updated on the daily schedule changes. Maybe you have someone that calls out now that you have to rearrange your whole schedule. But if all the staff are not aware of these changes, then it could cause an issue, can cause some chaos. So if the communication is not happening the way it should, you would say yes. Or another area within communication is that the parent notifications are inconsistent, right? You have a child that has an appointment in the morning, and the parent forgets to tell you that the child will be in late. And so now you've set your coverage for the day, everything is wonderful, and now you have an additional child. So now where do you put the child, right? So that's that communication from the parent is also inconsistent. So if that affects you, then say yes. Health and safety. Your outdoor time is without adequate shade. Now it's sunny, it's hot, and you don't have the adequate shade in your outdoor play space. Or hydration, not having the ability to make sure the children are hydrated as they are outside. Another area in health and safety could be medication schedules are disrupted because you have rotating staffs. Again, staff are not trained, they are not aware of what the specific tasks are for the day. And so that could also cause a problem. So, again, just kind of going through the risk categories and some of the common risk points. Um, certainly not limited to these, but it just gives you something to build from. So, looking at the category of behavior, you have behavioral changes that are and that are increased because there are schedule changes. You have new staff in, you have changes happening to the schedule that could cause some issues in behavior. So you would press yes, if or you would check yes if that applies to you. And then also another area in behavior is children are feeling unsettled by staff changes, right? So they don't know the staff. So that uh lack of connection could cause increased behavioral issues, right? So those are some things that could challenge the day, but again, not limited to uh not limited at all because it you may not have found here what really impacts your program or your center. Uh, and so you just want to think about it. What would impact your center if it's not here? Then you can think of some other things that are specific to you so that you can highlight that as your top three, right? So then you go back over it and you just really take a look to see from all of these, what were your high risk points? So, what were the most challenging risk points uh that are the most common to you, right? And so you would choose those three. Um, I would say the float staff are uh they're not aware of the ratios, and then also for the health and safety of the medication schedules, right? If you're providing medication. So I'm gonna use those as two. And then the third one I'm gonna use is uh behavior. Uh the behavior children are feeling unsettled by staff changes, right? So you have these floaters or these substitute teachers in for the or summer workers, right? So you have them in your program for summer months, children are not familiar with them, so it causes the unsettled behavior. You see, an increase in the behavioral challenges. So I'm gonna pick those three, right? So all of them are related to this, the additional staff or the unfamiliar staff being in the program. So this is where you would write down your three points, right? And so I mentioned my three, and so you would put in your three here. And again, if it's different from what's above, then you would just put in what those three are. And then we'll move on once you identify those common risk points. Then we're going to create a real quick one-page SOP template, right? So we're going to do this part together, right? So we're going to put our title. Uh, so I am going to call mine temporary staff procedures. Right, and so the points that we want to address here are unfamiliar staff. Actually, I'm gonna say the rest points uh staff are unfamiliar with the students causing increased behaviors. Schedule and appropriate ratios, right? Because they don't have that information. So, who does this apply to? This applies to any new staff that are starting, right? Your floating staff, any substitutes, any summer youth employment workers, and we'll leave it there, right? All right, and then the effective date, we want to make it effective immediately, right? So we'll say June 1st, and I know it's passed, but we're gonna say June 1st, 2026. So, what is going to be our step-by-step process, right? So, and I'm just gonna put in here what would work for what I've identified as my three uh tops, so you would look at yours and then write a procedure in place to make sure that this you or these points are addressed. So, for me, because it's this is all related to unfamiliar staff coming in during the summer months, right? Staff that are unfamiliar to the children, um, or even with our procedures and practices, right? So, what I first will do is I will once staff uh staff are onboarded, receive an orientation on policies, procedures, and practices of our program, including including public safety, medication schedules, and where to find them and ratio coverage, right? So that's the first thing. Staff are being onboarded, so you want to give them an orientation, right? Orientation slash training on what the policies and the procedures are, right? So that they understand our practices, they know where to find information within the classroom, right? And so the next thing we're going to do is of course give them an opportunity. Uh, I'm gonna call it a meet and greet with students and parents, right? Because we want them to be able, we want to give opportunities for connection. Acclimate the new staff to the classroom routines, transitions, etc., by connecting them with a mentor or support peer. Right? So you want to not just give them the training, right? And now then introduce them to the students and the parents, but you also now want to, once you put them in the classroom, you want to help give them some support that can help them to acclimate to all of the things in the classroom. Because to get the knowledge to understand what things are, to see them, then to have to put them into practice is a completely different thing. So you want to do that, right? So pair them up with someone that can support them throughout the process, and then you also want to have some check-in times, right? Some times of observation and feedback. Right? So you want to do some observation, see what the what is happening in the classroom, see how the person is performing, and then you want to offer them the feedback on what you observed, right? And then also give them an opportunity to reflect and to also mention, maybe mention some specific instances where you can allow them to reflect on what happened in that moment and how maybe they could do things different or help them to at least identify what went right in that situation or what went wrong and what could be done differently. And then the last piece would be um after you give them the feedback, um, you want to give them another opportunity to go back and now to implement, right? So then you would continue doing your check-ins with the staff, you would continue connecting with them and making sure that they have the feedback and that they're doing the self-reflection. Um, but then the last step that you want to do is that you want to have them. All right. So the number four is that we want to check in, right? Have set some time aside where we can do check-ins with them, go in and do an observation to see how they are acclimating to the classroom, to see how they to go in and do observations to see how they are acclimating to the classroom, see how they are implementing the strategies, how receptive are they to the mentorship from their peer, right? And the just the modeling. So we want to not just leave them there for that, right? But we want to also go in and observe and see how well they're doing, do some check ins with them, ask them how you're doing, how how does it feel? How's it going? All of those sorts of things. But you want to now create an opportunity for you to connect with them to see how they're doing and to see maybe if. There are some supports that they may need from you, right? They may be overwhelmed, or maybe it's something they didn't expect or hadn't anticipated. So then in those situations, you want to be able to give them the support that they need to be successful. And then so you want to do the observations, right? So you want to observe them in the moment. And then you may even talk to them about the situation, right? So what you observed. And so that leads me to the next point is that we want to make sure that we give them feedback, right? So don't just do the observation and say, oh wow, they're really struggling, right? But then you want to also go back and give them that feedback. Give them what you saw, right? And also use that as a teachable moment to let them know, you know, in this instance, I saw this. And it was, you did really well in this point, but then at this point, something else happened, right? And so what you could do differently in that moment is that, you know, next time you could try this, A, Y, A or Z, right? So you want to give some ideas, but give them that feedback, right? Because you being the owner of that information is not going to help them grow. So you have to give them that feedback, give them the information back, and then also give them an opportunity to join the discussion. What are some things that you could do differently? Or when you point out one specific instance that you saw or something you observed, give them the opportunity to be able to now uh reflect on what happened. What happened in that moment? How are you feeling? What do you feel went well in that? Or where do you feel you went wrong, right? Or what could have been done differently? What can you do differently next time? Now knowing or seeing how the situation went. So now how can you help them to reflect in that moment, right? You give them the feedback, but then also help them reflect and then allow them to go back into the classroom. But before you release them, you want to give them some tips, right? And so, even in things that they identify, because they may say, you know what, I really feel like I lost control in that moment. I didn't know what to do, I didn't know what to do next, or I didn't expect that response from the student. I didn't know what to do next, right? So you want to also use that as that teachable moment where you're giving them the feedback that they could go back and now use in the classroom. And so we don't want this to be a situation where it's just a one-off, right? Where you just do the observation once, that's it, you leave them, right? But you want it to be ongoing. So that's why for number four, I said check in, right? So you want to check, especially you know, if you observe that they are struggling in an area, right? So these are my five steps. Um, but whatever it is that you chose as your high or your common high risk points, then those would be what you would write your SOP based on, right? And so these are all things that we understand to do and we know to do. And so, but sometimes we don't have it, it doesn't have a place to live, right? So if you don't have it written down somewhere, then it's hard. Only you know what you would do in certain instances. But if that information is not captured somewhere, then others cannot follow that same process, right? So we always talk about systems and always talk about process. Your process, whatever it is, you usually know it as the leader, right? But now you need others to be able to follow that same process when things happen, which is your SOP, right? That's why you have that in place so that they know what to follow. And so, very simply here, and you can build this up and have it be, you know, more uh a little bit deeper, more detailed if you'd like. But for the sake of our demonstration together, I just wanted you to be able to see how we put these things together. So then you just put five steps of procedure. How are you going to address these high risk points? And so these are the points that I chose, uh, but you can do something, and I definitely encourage you to really look at your three highest points, and then you can write out what your standards of practice will be concerning it, right? So your your this is your policy, this is your procedure around it, what you're gonna do to address very specific risk points. And so then the last thing, of course, is you want everyone to acknowledge, right? Acknowledge that this is what we talked about. Uh, and so you want to share this with your staff so that they are aware. Staff, the this is our standard of practice. This is our this is our SOP that we have for this particular risk point. And you want them, and so that means you do a brief meeting, uh, you have a brief discussion, send it out by email. It's better if you can connect with them and let them know that this is what we've put in place, let them know where to live. It should be posted somewhere. Let them know where it will live, that they can refer to it. You can give them a copy of it, let it be posted in their classroom, that they could follow it, right? So you can certainly do that. But you want to every staff that you give your SOP to, you want them to be able to now sign off on it, right? And then you also want to sign it because we're agreeing that this is our response or this is our process and how we address certain risks. And so I hope this was helpful to you. And so it only works, right, if you can identify your three risk points, right? And so it may not be as easy for you to do. Um, but what I do want you to understand is that I mean, so think of think of it this way what causes the most calls to your office, right? What are the most what causes the most safety risk, the things that you're usually the most concerned about? So you want to look at those three things, whatever they are, right? Because you may say, I don't have anything specifically attached to the things that we mentioned here and the uh and the spreadsheet, but just talking, thinking about what are those things that you always get complaints about, you always get calls for, all of those sorts of things, or those things that make you feel really, really nervous, or you're really concerned or stressed about. You want to choose the highest three, those are your highest three risk points. And so then you're able to, for each one of them, right? You want to build out what your step-by-step instructions are going to be. What is your step-by-step procedure going to be to be able to address each of these issues? And so once we build our SOP together, right? So then something else that's included, these are some additional resources that you can just look at. And so very quickly, I'm just gonna go over it. So uh for coverage tips, right? 10 non-negotiable staffing practices. And so these are your non-negotiables, right? And so you can tweak this, you can modify it to address or be more specific to your program. But for tip one, always confirm ratio coverage before releasing any staff, not after, right? So that's something you want to make sure that you do. You confirm the ratios before you let staff go, even if they have to use the restroom or even to lunch breaks, all of those things you want to make sure of the ratio prior to uh releasing anyone for any reason, right? Because then this will cause issues with ensuring that you're compliant with your ratios. Tip number two, create a floater or float staff briefing card. Create a float staff briefing card with classroom specific procedures for each room, right? Or you can have it posted in each classroom, post a day's schedule in each classroom, and so if it varies per day, say you're going doing special activities, then you want to make sure that by 7:30 every morning you have the schedule set. Number four of your non-negotiables is identify a coverage captain for each shift who owns ratio tracking, right? So that's not something you have to do. You can assign it to someone that can be responsible for this area. Number five, run a five-minute all staff check-in when coverage changes midday. So in midday, usually you have everyone starting to go on their lunch breaks, and coverage has to be adjusted to make sure you have adequate coverage in those classrooms during those break times, right? So you want to have a five-minute check-in with all staff if you can put huddle everyone together if you know if you can't, um, that's fine, but you want to make sure you have a touch point with them. Number six, document every schedule deviation, no matter how small. You have someone that comes to you and say, Oh, I need to have a doctor's appointment. Oh, I have an emergency, I receive a call from my son's camp, right? I need to leave. So then note it, make sure that it's documented somewhere uh so that you can always uh refer back to it or try to understand what happened in a particular moment, right? So you want to make sure you take note of it because if there's so much going on, you know, we would love to say that we'll remember it, but it's it's hard to always remember when there's so many moving pieces. So make sure that you write it down, document it. Number seven is that you keep a laminated emergency subcard in each classroom with key contacts and procedures, right? So you can use a laminated emergency subcard. Each uh in my classrooms, we have uh what we call an escort or emergency contact binder, right? So everyone has their own binder with all of the escort uh emergency contact sheets in them, right? So you can do that or you can have the laminated cards, something that's simpler, right? You can also do that, but you want to make sure that you have that and that's available in each classroom. Number eight is you want to cross-train at least one staff member per classroom for every critical procedure, so that at least there's one lead person in the classroom that can be responsible to help the others, or even if there is a substitute or someone in that classroom when you're not able to get to that person to do the training as we talked about, then you can have that person, that person in the classroom is already trained, and so they already know what to do, and so they can help to instruct the others. They can't be a peer mentor if they don't first know what to do, right? So we're gonna empower them, give them the tools that they need, right? So we're gonna do that cross-training to make sure that at least one person in the classroom knows what to do in every critical procedure. Number nine is you want to build a 15-minute buffer into transition. So never rush any handoffs. Transition time is the time that you see the most issues happen, the most issues occur during transition time. So you don't want to rush it, you want everyone to be alert, know what's going on. And so you want to make sure that the transitions are seamless. So you give yourself a few extra minutes there as a buffer, right? So as you're leading into your transitions, and then the last tip, number 10, is a non of the non-negotiables, the coverage non-negotiable, is to debrief at the end of each day if a coverage challenge occurred. Update your SOP immediately, right? So we put the practice in place, and so these are this is a procedure that we're gonna follow, and then something happens in a particular day, and that particular procedure didn't work, right? So now you want to be able to put something in place. You want to modify your SOP to with the modification or update it with the modification so that you know exactly what to do to address that situation moving forward. So these are the 10 non-negotiables, and these are just tips, and you can add to it, you could tweak it, do whatever you need to, but that's uh will help you if you stick to those. And then there's a summer rhythm, a daily rhythm template, right? And so you can adapt it to your program specific schedule, of course, uh, but then it gives you a time block, and then it tells you what your routine schedule is going to be and who's gonna be your assigned lead, right? Who's gonna be the coverage staff that will be there? And so this is not something that you have to do every single day, right? Because once you know what your classroom schedule is, then you go in and you put those in. So then you beforehand, hopefully you schedule your break times, right? So there's a standard break time. I understand that there are call-outs, there are situations you have to adjust, you have to shift students, shift staff around, right? So I understand that all those things happen, but you should have a standardized schedule, a break schedule, right? But then as changes come up, then you make modifications accordingly. But this will allow you to not have to do this every single day, right? But you would do this and make sure that you have your assigned lead and your coverage staff for each of these activities, right? So all the time for the majority of the time, it's going to be those that are in the classroom, assigned to the classroom. The only time it may get a little challenging is when you start doing break time. So we're usually around lunchtime and rest time. And each school day, especially in preschool, is when you now start having the staff go on their lunch breaks. So now those that's when you have to have those break times in there, um, and then be prepared for any modifications that are needed. And so this is something just to have on hand, and so that's your summer daily rhythm, and it may be a little bit different uh than your school schedule or the schedule that you have in the classroom uh throughout the school year, right? It may be a little different because you are, of course, are doing more outdoor activities depending on your age group. So you want to have those, okay? So just to give you just a couple of tools just to be able to work with or work from, especially when it comes to our coverage, right? The non-negotiables, making sure we have a system in place that helps to protect us. Also have our SOP that addresses our specific risk points. So I hope that that demonstration was helpful to you. So please understand, summer does not have to be chaos with the right systems, the right training, and a strong fall plan, you can be confidently year-round. So don't forget to go and download that. The link is in the description below where you can get your own summer reset toolkit and complete module one. That's what we went over today. Pick your three risk points and draft your at least one page, one of the SOPs for one of your risk points. Comment SOP and tell me your biggest summer risk, whether it's supervision or transitions, communication, health and safety, or even behavior, please put it in the chat below. I'd love to hear from you. And so until we meet again next time, thank you for your time this evening or morning, wherever you are.

SPEAKER_01 37:31

And so until we meet again next time, be well and let's elevate early childhood education together.

SPEAKER_00 37:45

Elevate childhood education, where leaders rise, children thrive, and your program becomes a legacy of excellence.