
Early Care & Education Program Collaboration Model Description
| Agency/Home Name: |
Kid’s Kingdom Early Learning Center |
| Contact Person: |
Rhonda Clark |
| Address: |
203 W. Missouri St., Oblong, IL 62449 |
| Phone: |
618-592-4440 |
| Email Address: |
rclark@otecom.net |
1. Model (Please check only one. Complete separate forms for different collaboration models.)
2. Collaboration Type (Check all that apply to this collaboration model.)
3. Partnership Initiated By
4. Demographics
5. Schedule
| Hours per day: |
12 |
| From: |
5:30 |
| To: |
5:30 |
| Days/Weeks per year: |
Mon-Fri 52 weeks |
| Holidays or other time “off” or closed: |
4th July, Memorial Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years Day, and Good Friday |
| If this is an Early/Head Start collaboration, please indicate the program option & number of Early/Head start hours: |
_________ |
6. Number of Children Served Full-Day/Year by Location, Setting & Age
Setting includes: Head Start/Early Head Start site; Child care center; Family child care homes; Public/private school system; Other (explain/describe)
Location |
Setting |
# Infants |
# Toddlers |
# Preschool |
Kid’s Kingdom – 203 W. Missouri, Oblong
Note: 20 with Oblong School & 20 through ISBE; capacity 93 |
Child Care Center |
|
|
40 |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Location |
Setting |
# Infants |
# Toddlers |
# Preschool |
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
7. Total number of children served by organization
8. Total number of children served by partner’s organization (if applicable). Note: this means an early care & education partner with whom you are collaborating. Agencies that checked “One Agency, Multiple Funders” in question 1, page 1 of this survey will NOT complete this question.
9. Funding used to support full-day/year services (Check all that apply.)
10. Administration/Management (Check either yes, no or not applicable – NA – for each item.)
11. Has the collaboration had an impact on the partner’s internal practices with regard to (check yes or no for each item):
12. Program Services (Make 2 checks for each item – 1 to indicate which partner is primarily responsible for direct service delivery and the other to indicate which children receive that service – all or just the collaboration children.)
13. Primary objectives for beginning this collaboration (check all that apply)
14. Collaboration Development & Management
15. Program Components: Please answer the following questions about your collaboration program. Show in column 2 which partner is responsible for each program component. Check which children receive the program component in the last 2 columns - either all children in the classroom(s) or just the collaboration children.
Answer the following questions IN AS FEW WORDS as possible, still giving a picture of how your collaboration works. Use bullet point lists whenever possible.
16. List/describe any other program components included in the collaboration that are not described in items 12 and 15 (pages 3-4).
We have a parent/child lending library. Parents can choose to check out resources on parenting & children can check out education books, toys or videos. We also have about 6-8 parent educational meetings per year to enhance parenting skills.
17. Please describe how budgeting and cost sharing among funding sources is done. How do you decide how costs will be shared? What are the financial arrangements between partners?
Our money is pooled together & used to pay a portion of the operating expenses & to fund the preschool program (toys, supplies, food, etc.)
18. Please explain how your collaboration is staffed. Include classroom and support staff and tell how this is changed/different from your regular program. Who funds the staff’s salaries? Who supervises the staff and who employs them? What salaries and benefits are offered collaboration staff and is this different from other staff?
We have a PreK teacher, a Head Start teacher, a child care teacher & 2 aides. PreK funds the PreK teacher & aide, Head Start funds its teacher & child care funds a teacher & an aide. The child care center employs & supervises the staff, with Head Start having input into decisions. The PreK teacher has a higher salary & benefits. The Head Start teacher’s salary follows the Head Start agency’s salary & benefits chart, which is a little higher than child care. The rest of the staff follow the child care salary chart. With the PreK grant, we were also able to use one of our Directors as a Parent Coordinator. This is a service she provided previously as part of her Director responsibilities.
19. Please tell about your written agreement, if you have one. Include: what the agreement covers (section titles); term (what the time period is); if finances are part of the agreement and how these were figured; etc.
Agreement is with Head Start – see Head Start profile.
20. Please describe the training system for your collaboration. Include what kind of training is done, how costs are shared among funding sources and/or partners, and how it has changed since the collaboration began.
Head Start’s training is open to child care staff. Child care staff participates in IL Resource Center trainings & the Head Start teacher participates in these. Child care has been able to access a much higher quality training through the collaborations. ISBE trainings provide wonderful information! We also access Project Child for some of the training funding. This allows child care center staff to attend these trainings along with Head Start & PreK teaching staff.
21. Please give any other details about your collaboration that you believe are important, but not covered elsewhere.
The blending of these funding streams has made a vast improvement in this center. I have seen my teachers grow from the improved training we are receiving. We are able to provide a quality early childhood program & have been able to improve salaries for our employees, thus adding to the quality of our program through the continuity of care. We have recently gone through the NAEYC self-study process, have received our visit & are waiting a reply from the commission. I believe that it is through these collaborations that we will be able to meet our goal of becoming a NAEYC accredited center! We also work with the local school district’s PreK program on other programming, including family education nights & to screen the children. We work together with the school district to provide the best possible program for all the families & children in our community. We have also worked with our district to ensure that children’s special services needs are met.
22. If you could start your collaboration over again, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
Have more knowledge about the programs that we are working with. Know more about what each program’s regulations are, what their strengths & weaknesses are, and how we can pull the best from all programs.
23. What advice do you have for agencies/homes starting new collaborations?
Meet often to begin with. It is essential to build trust with your partners! Be open to change! Working together allows you to pull the best form all the programs and make a top notch program!
Copyright 2005 Collaboration Model Description. Template.
HS State Collab Office.10.05  |