Enrollsmart Childcare, Preschool and ECE Technology Blog

How Morning Health Checks Including Temperature Readings Reduced Our Illness Rates By As Much As 75%  By Kimberly Newman @enrollsmart During one particular year, we had a significant amount of child and staff illness. This was despite following the 3-Step Method (Wash, Rinse, Sanitize) for all of our dishes, sanitizing toys and cots and, washing sheets and blankets, regularly. This was a very frustrating time and, we decided to do something different to combat our illness rates.  We were already conducting morning health checks when children arrived each day but, we were not taking the children's temperature upon arrival.   In looking at and tracking the trend of illness that was occurring at our center, we noted that spikes in body temperature usually preceded a child going home sick and then other children and, staff calling out sick. We decided to add two things to our morning health process that proved highly effective in reducing the ill...

3 Reasons Small/Medium-Sized Childcare Centers Need a Website and Online Enrollment By Jim Shields @enrollsmart During the 15 years that I was involved in the ownership and management of childcare centers, we processed thousands of applications for childcare and, hundreds of applications for employment.  The phone was constantly ringing because we used radio to promote our childcare centers and, people were always calling to inquire about childcare availability and jobs; that was a good thing . We ended up with call logs and mountains of notes on our desks with call-back numbers and, names, ages of children, hours of care needed, potential staff, etc.  We even had a website with a downloadable enrollment form and, people could apply for jobs at our website.   The bad thing was that, for all of the phone calls and "walk-in" notes we had accumulated, we didn't have enough usable electronic data to make it easier for us to make decisions or dem...

2 Things To Consider Before Letting Your Teachers Use Their Mobile Devices In Small/Medium-Sized Centers 😐👀 By Kimberly Newman, Customer Success Leader @enrollsmart Technology is everywhere today.  In my opinion, it has its place in the classroom; on a "measured" basis. We used a fantastic service called Letsgolearn.com (No, this is not a commercial for LGL) that worked out well for our Pre-K program.  We used LGL  on desktop computers and, the children, staff, and parents really valued it. That was around the time the smartphone revolution was beginning to take off (circa 2007). Fast forward to today and, nearly everyone has a smartphone. We got quite a bit of experience dealing with smartphones in our childcare centers and with our van drivers.  We had to develop policies around smartphone use and, our policy was this:   Smartphones were NOT to be used on the premises. PERIOD (with the exception of drivers and management).  ...

3 Steps I Took to Manage Staff Absences In My Small and Medium-Sized Childcare Centers  By Kimberly Newman, Customer Success Leader @enrollsmart When we closed our childcare centers after 15 years in business, we had a lot of stories to share; both good and bad.  Each day in the childcare business takes on a different shape but, one of the things that shape a day most is whether you will be fully staffed. After all, your customers are counting on you to be adequately staffed. In fact, many parents are not only entrusting you with their children, they are entrusting with their livelihood.  Like any other business, childcare centers have workers that will "call-out" or request time off in advance.  When a staff person "calls-out" in childcare, it is not only annoying, but it can put the center out of compliance.  Additionally, uncertainty about staff reliability can be a significant barrier to a childcare center meeting its enrollment goals and,...

How "Unlinked" Google and Facebook  Pages May Be Reducing Enrollments  and Increasing Your Work Load in a Small or Medium-Sized Childcare Center by Jim Shields Since last October, we have been surveying small and medium-sized childcare centers across the country. What we've found is that 90% of small and medium-sized childcare centers don't have interactive websites ( by interactive, I mean a website that actually does things for the besides simply supplying information i.e. allows parents to apply online, allows parents to update information and, make payments ).  However a large portion of these centers have Facebook pages and, they rely on referrals from Google searches to generate enrollments. Although it is beneficial to have a presence on Google and Facebook, the problem that we have witnessed in small and medium-sized childcare centers is that their Google listing and Facebook pages tell users to "Call Now" instead of visiting their website...

3 Keys to Success for Medium-Sized and Small Childcare Centers  By Kimberly Newman, Customer Success Leader @enrollsmart Over the years, we have noticed some trends; particularly in medium-sized and small childcare centers. First, let's define medium-sized and, small centers. We define medium-sized and, small childcare centers as anywhere from 12 to 90 in licensed capacity.  These are programs where the owner is likely to also serve as the director and, many of these centers have programs and operating hours/days that are extended. It is not uncommon to see centers in this capacity range open up earlier or stay open later than the traditional 7am-6pm schedule. Medium-sized and small childcare centers make up the vast majority of the childcare market and, often offer a hands-on approach by the owner; who is likely working in the classroom, cooking meals, driving the van and, doing the lion's share of the center's required paperwork.  In our experience, the...