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The Complete Guide to Becoming An Education and Childcare Administrator, Preschool and Daycare
What it really takes to run a preschool or daycare — the daily work, the pay, the path in, and how to know if it's actually right for you
by Alumigogo Books
Chapter 1: What Does a Education and Childcare Administrator, Preschool and Daycare Actually Do?
Let's strip away the title and the job-posting language and get right to what you'd actually be doing. An Education and Childcare Administrator for a preschool or daycare is, in plain terms, the person who makes sure the building opens on time, the teachers show up, the kids are safe, the parents are calm, and the state doesn't shut you down. You are not the one on the floor reading stories all day. You are the one behind the office door, the one with the clipboard and the phone, the one whose name is on the license.
Depending on the size of the center, your title might be Center Director, Program Administrator, Site Supervisor, or just "The Boss Lady." In a small daycare with twenty kids, you might be the only administrator, which means you also do the payroll, the ordering of snacks, and the unblocking of the toilet when the plumber can't come until Tuesday. In a larger center with a hundred kids and ten teachers, you'll have an assistant director, a cook, and a bookkeeper to share the load. But the core of the job — the responsibility for everything that happens between drop-off and pick-up — is on you.
Your core responsibilities: more business than babysitting
If you're imagining a job that's mostly about playing with children, pause right now. The actual daily work is closer to running a small business that happens