New Daycare Center Director....

My daughter has been in daycare for 3 years. The few times that she's ever been sick, the call was placed by the director, and she was placed into the director's care until my arrival. She did not stay in her classroom with a fever or other potentially contagious illness. Yes, it would annoy be both because the director was uninformed and because a sick child was allowed to remain in the classroom where germs could continue to be spread.

If giving the benefit of a doubt, the director may not know which child goes with which parent yet.

Well, when she said she had heard the teacher calling, that does not mean she heard WHAT the teacher was calling about. She may have had no idea that your child was sick and the teacher might have dashed back to the classroom without telling her. You're assuming that the director knew your child had a fever and that's not necessarily so (unless there was more to your exchange that we don't know here).

I would try to curb the fury over one incident. Perhaps you're upset that your child is sick, which is natural for a mom, but a miscommunication one time when the director is new isn't necessarily a reason to assume she's terrible at her job. Depending on the preschool's size, she may not even have realized that you're a parent she never sees -- she may still be getting to know the parents' faces at this point. I'd take a deep breath, give her the benefit of the doubt, and focus on my child. And thank the teacher for the prompt notice.

No, it would not annoy me. Her job is to direct the center, not be on top of the minute-to-minute happenings of each child. If the place is well run and well staffted, then she's doing her job.

Now... if you walked in and the nurse had called you and the teacher had no idea why you were there, then I would be upset!

I think most of us make the assumption that everyone who works in a school or daycare facility is warm and fuzzy, but that's not always true, especially among management, directors and administrators. Their main job is to hire GOOD teachers and run a safe and efficient program.
When our school got a new principal a lot of parents didn't like her for this very reason. She was more businesslike and cool than the previous principal, but she was actually VERY good at her job.
I am ALWAYS more concerned with the people who are directly interacting and caring for my children every day than the people running the business end of the organization. Try to stay focused on that!

Would not expect her to know your kid had a fever. She is a director. She has many other things she is responsible for.

I've found that some directors are more business oriented leaders than child care oriented. If that is the case and you love the place, then I would let it go. If you feel that she should be more connected to the kids, then you may want to go elsewhere.

I do have to say that when visiting daycares, those sort of directors turned me off to the place. Not that there is anything wrong with it, it just wasn't my first choice.

I wouldn't call this a red flag. I'd call it more of ... a yellow flag. Like a sign to be alert to future problems but not necessarily a problem all by itself.

I mean, it sounds like the teacher handled this incredibly correctly. So, why should the director need to be involved? And if she's really new, she may not yet know which parents to expect midday.

If you don't have a good feeling about her, by all means, stay on the alert. Intuition is important in these situations. But this, all by itself, doesn't necessarily sound like a cause for alarm.

Maybe the new director is a bit overwhelmed with everything at the moment? Or she just does not get it and is not a good director. The teacher is great you say and your happy with her? That to me is half the battle. Just keep an eye do some sneak attacks for the playground but give the director a chance to settle in. As your daughter how she feels about the director

She's the director. The top of the food chain. The top of the food chain isn't always required to keep abreast of the things that are going on lower in the food chain. If those things were causing problems, yes, she'd be aware, but a sick child being sent home isn't exactly unheard of at a daycare. Her priorities are the logisitcs and business operations of the center, not the touchy-feely stuff that the teachers and nurses deal with.

Once she feels comfortable in her position, she'll be able to spend more time on things like knowing the children. Give her a break...and understand that she's NOT a daycare teacher or a nurse, she's a director. Teachers teach and deal with the kids, nurses nurse and deal with the kids, directors direct and deal with the teachers and nurses.

I am the director of my daycare and there is not one sick child that goes home that I do not know about, or make the call myself. Every phone call that goes to a parent regarding any matters (unless I ask the teacher to call directly) is done by me. My center has 76 children and I make it my business to give the personal touch to each family. I would never have a teacher just call a parent to report illness unless I check out the child myself first. There are times when parents will argue and not be willing to pick up their child, I do not think it is a teachers job to have to deal wit that. Also there are times a child can present a low grade fever and is acting fine, playing, eating, etc. I will always call a parent to give a heads up that something is brewing, but if the fever is not above 101.7 and they are not presenting any other symptoms they do not have to go home. I disagree that it is not the directors job, it IS the directors job. How can a teacher leave a room to call parents concerning a sick child. My staff will ask me to come to the room, and we will discuss the issue, and then I make the call if necessary. If I am not there, I will get a phone call from the teacher and then give the go ahead if a call is needed. I also have a manager present if I am not there for these reasons. I wouldn't say this is any reason to take your child out, but I do think your gut is telling you change is coming, and you are probably right. If you are happy with the teacher, and the center, then I would stick it out. You are not going to have as much contact with the director as you will the teacher, so if you are happy, wait it out. So to answer your question, I do agree with you. I would have expected her to ask the teacher the nature of the call so she was informed when you arrived.

She is only an administrator. She isn't anything else. She doesn't want to be anything else. I'm so sorry you had a wonderful person before and now you have this.

She isn't going to get much better, I'm sorry to say. Depend on the teacher, is your best bet.

Dawn

How many kids at the day care? Is it their procedure to notify the Director when children are sick? It sounds like the teacher had it under control. Give her time:)

The new principle of our neighborhood PUBLIC school made the effort to learn every childs name by going through the past years yearbook. He also went door to door to each child's home to introduce himself to the kids and the parents. WE DONT PAY TUITION.

I would be VERY concerned. Is this a chain? Contact superiors.

M.

The Director would not have any knowledge of what is going on with your child, why would she. There are teachers for that. They don't go to her with every little thing. It's not like your child was injured and an ambulance was called. This was just a little fever. Not something the director would even know about.

Her job is to keep that facility full and make the owners money. To hire and fire teachers, to keep the records of training the teachers have done each year to keep them up to date so that when the state comes in to inspect she has all the kids shot records up to date and the staff training is never behind.

She is hired to oversee the bill paying, the staffing when someone is sick, she will most likely NEVER be in any classroom as a teacher, she may do the cooking one or two days if the cook is out sick but chances are the assistant director would do that so the director could handle the day to day business of the business.

The only thing one of my teachers ever came to me to ask what she should do was when she found bruises on the chin of one of her 3 year olds. She had asked the big sister how he got them and she wanted my input before calling child welfare with a referral. She did not even have to talk to me about that. If I had told her not to call she should have still done it if she truly felt it was questionable.

The teachers are responsible for their own classrooms, not the director. It's not the directors job to be in those classrooms managing them, that's why they hire the teachers.

The one you should have asked about your child was the teacher.