Vol. II, No. 5, Summer 2003
Recent Projects & Accomplishments
Operation Breakthrough, Kansas City, MO - Provided a written evaluation of a schematic floor plan for a large urban child care project. The report provided the necessary background information to incorporate significant changes in the schematic design. Work will continue on this project including outdoor designs.
Community Playthings, Chester, NY - Working as a consultant on a floor plan for a model kindergarten program.
WCCA Head Start, Hendersonville, NC - We have been retained as a consultant by the architectural company of Gaylord & Associates to work with their team in creating a new building for Head Start. Ken Gaylord, AIA, attended the Early Childhood Facilities Design Institute, which we hosted in June.
Paradise Park, Lee's Summit - Completed ordering all the equipment for a large children's play and discovery center to open in October of this year. Also completed drafts of the operating policies and procedures and created curriculum for teachers who want to use the site for field trips. The center will feature events for children under the age of eight and their parents including interactive cooking, performance area, miniature play, giant water tables, pretend house with dress-up, a pretend pizza restaurant, a supermarket and an infant toddler area. A 25,000 SF children's play garden will open outdoors in the spring.
National Child Care Administrator Credential - Vicki Stoecklin, our Education & Child Development Director, has completed the National Child Care Administrator Credential and has been accepted as a trainer for the course. The week long study covered nine competency areas for leadership as a director. The curriculum was developed by experts in various areas of business and child care including attorneys, business consultants, editors of widely respected publications in the childhood care and education industry, and experienced child care center administrators.
National Louis University, Wheeling, IL - Vicki Stoecklin, our Education & Child Development Director, has been accepted as an adjunct faculty by the Early Childhood Program at National Louis University. She will be teaching ECE 544 Early Childhood Environments: Design and Facilities Management.
NAEYC Physical Environment Technical Resource Team - Vicki Stoecklin has been serving with a selected group of national colleagues as a technical resource team for NAEYC as they rewrite the accreditation criteria. The team has been working over the summer on writing program standards for the physical environment, which includes child and staff safety, environmental health, building/physical design, outdoor environmental design, local and state regulations and standards, equipment, furnishings and materials and transportation. The suggested program standards will be given to a national contractor who has been selected to collate all the materials developed by multiple teams and to create measurable evidence that this requirement has been met prior to accreditation.