Business Statement and Plan
Introduction
This assignment paper will be divided into two sections, with part one discussing strategic planning statement by addressing elements such as the vision, mission, and core values of the childcare facility. Part two of the paper will address the business plan for an early education center.
Part One: Strategic Planning Statement
Introduction
Having worked as a childcare social worker for years, I was convinced that I wanted to continue serving children throughout my life hence the reason for the increased desire to establish a childcare facility. The childcare facility will be known as Devian Childcare Center for Children with Learning Disabilities. Some of the reasons for establishing this childcare facility include the need to promote the emotional and social development of children in the community and the need to teach children how to take care of themselves. Other reasons include fostering cognitive and language skills as well as the need to keep the children safe from malicious people who may want to violate their rights (Kemp et al., 2013). The childcare facility will be located in the local community near the Town of Massachusetts, where there is a high preference for child abuse. This childcare facility will operate for 8 hours on weekdays from 08:00 am to 4:00 pm and for four hours on Saturdays from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm. However, the offices will remain closed during Sundays and on public holidays.
Vision
This childcare center will primarily serve children who had been diagnosed and are living with learning disabilities. The reason for focusing on this population is that there exists a high prevalence of children with a learning disability in Massachusetts, which is currently at 17.6% of the total population in this state. Children in Massachusetts who are living with a learning disability have been found to have several significant health problems such as poor memory, poor coordination, difficulty in following directions, short attention span, and poor writing and reading ability. Some of the guiding principles upon which this childcare center will be built upon include child development plans, autonomous educators lead to innovation, and every situation is a learning opportunity (Sharkins et al., 2016). This childcare center will focus on using a Special Needs Education program. This program is increasingly important as it will help children with learning disabilities overcome the different learning challenges they may be facing. Using the Special Needs Education Program, Devian Childcare Center for Children with Learning Disabilities will be pivotal in promoting the learning capabilities of community children in Massachusetts.
Mission
The mission statement of this childcare center will be “To provide developmentally appropriate and high-quality child care and education to children with learning disabilities.” Devian Childcare Center for Children with Learning Disabilities will focus on achieving this mission by employing strategies such as rotational learning sessions, forming small group discussions, and blending the basics with the more specialized instructions. This childcare center will also focus on using the creative curriculum to enhance the special needs education program that will be pursued by these institutions. This curriculum primarily focuses on developmentally appropriate objectives and goals for children within physical, language, cognitive, and social-emotional as the main categories of interest (Michael-Luna & Heimer, 2012).
Core Values
Some of the central core values that will be upheld in this institution include integrity, respect, teamwork, quality, and equality. Some of the expectations of children who will join this facility include exhibiting a high degree of respect to the instructors and staff, not owning phones, and always being in the school attire. These expectations are increasingly important as they help the child with the learning disability to treat this facility as also a learning institution with its rules and regulations to be followed (Buli-Holmberg & Jeyaprathaban, 2016). Secondly, there are also several expectations for parents such as they should always ensure that their children have completed their homework before dropping them at this center, they have a parking permit before parking their vehicles and should not be on their cell phones when dropping their children off to school. Thirdly, staff members are expected to meet specific criteria such as having a certificate of good conduct, have at least an associate degree before being offered the opportunity to teach these students with learning disabilities and should have no past criminal record.
Part Two: Business Plan Overview
This section of the assignment provides a business plan for a Preschool Learning Center to help meet children’s learning needs in the community. Some of the business goals of establishing this Preschool Learning Center include preparing the children for kindergarten and assisting children in developing positive self-esteem. Other objectives include helping the children develop skills to work and cooperate in both small and large groups and, lastly, helping children develop social and communication skills for solving problems or challenges in a peaceful manner.
Introduction
Having Completed an associate degree five years ago and successfully pursued a bachelor’s degree in education, I am inclined to start a Preschool Learning Center. Here, I will manage to use my experience as an instructor to promote the physical, mental and social development of children. The reason for starting the business is to actively participate in the community’s development by boosting the cognitive, social, and physical development of children and equipping them with enough skills to officially join the schools (Mustafa & Azman, 2013). The center will be called ‘By-Grace Preschool Learning Center.’ The reason for using this title is that this center will promote the desired developmental skills in children. The ‘By-Grace Preschool Learning Center’ will be located in New York City since this town has a high number of children who require services that will be offered by this institution. That is because most of the residents are within their child-bearing age hence making this center essential for families living in New York. These individuals also belong to the working-age group and spend little time with their children, therefore, making them the primary target market for this business set-up. The motto for this business set-up will be “Free to Serve” as this message helps in demonstrating the initial purpose of this organization, which is to promote the development of children to help then gain enough skills that can help them freely serve their country.
Operating Cost
Several operating costs will be incurred in the effort of establishing the ‘By-Grace Preschool Learning Center.’ To reduce costs, the facility will be rented, whereby the existing premises to be hired will be renovated for use. Some of the materials needed to establish this facility include wood, cement, metals, concrete, and bricks. Moreover, some of the equipment that will be required in renovating the rented premises include a tape measure, hammer and nails, electrical tester, claw hammer, screwdrivers, cordless drill, power drill, thermal protection, doors, windows, escalator, glass and electrical systems (Levin & Schwartz, 2012). After the rented house has been fully renovated and customized to serve the purpose of a preschool learning center, the premises will then be equipped with all the necessary furniture and teaching materials to build a conducive environment to support the learning process.
The primary source of the fund will be the individual savings as starting capital that the owner will have saved. Other sources of funds that will be used in making this business success include a loan from the banks, donations from well-wishers, and fee charges that will be charged on parents whose children will be enrolled in this institution. Most of the fee that will be paid by the parents will be used on financing the recurrent and daily operating costs such as food to be taken by the children and salaries to be paid to all the staff members both permanent and temporary, that the center will incur in the course of offering teaching and learning services. Parents will be charged based on the unique needs education program that their children will be undertaking. It is crucial to note that the salaries to be paid to the staff members will depend on one’s role in the institution and educational as well as experience level.
Personnel
The Preschool Learning Center will be primarily governed by a board that will comprise of the owner as of the chairman and a hired school head-teacher who will have two deputies and supported by a minimum of 15 teachers to manage this learning center. The head-teacher will directly report to the school owner on the performance and proper management of this institution. The human resource department will ensure that a fair recruitment and hiring process of staff is maintained all the time. The below image shows a visual hierarchy of the rankings of the individual’s jobs.
Chart 1: Organizational Hierarchy of a Preschool Learning Center
Source: (Ben-Ari, 2013).
The candidates who will be selected are mainly those whose qualifications and level of experience outstand their opponents. For the teachers who are going to be hired, some of the credentials that they will need to have include completion of a bachelor’s degree in education, a minimum of three years working experience in a similar learning institution. In the case of food service workers, the primary credential that will be required for a candidate to qualify for this position include a minimum of a high school diploma, ability to understand and follow safety procedures, ability to follow routine verbal and written instructions and ability to use safe cleaning equipment and supplies (Ben-Ari, 2013). Office staff, on the other hand, will be required to have credentials such as basic knowledge on spreadsheets, databases, computer skills, and a minimum of three-year experience in a particular office staff position.
The staff processing process will involve conducting a detailed assessment of the possible workforce needed to ensure that this organization becomes operational. Advertisement for vacant job positions in this organization will be done using TV adverts, newspapers, and social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter. The other staffing process will comprise of selection, placement and orientation and training and development. The philosophy for leadership that will be used to enhance better management is ensuring that all the employees, particularly teachers adopt the belief that as leaders, they are supposed to have an excellent vision for the children with learning disabilities, among other special education needs (Ben-Ari, 2013). The administrator will guide the employees through planning on key daily activities to be conducted, organize the operations by assigning and matching each employee with duties and responsibilities based on the level of qualification, and implementing training strategies that will help improve the skills of the employees.
Learning Environment
The learning environment for this Preschool Learning Center will be enhanced by installing and equipping the premises with the right materials. For instance, the indoor spaces will comprise desks, chalkboards and whiteboards, clickers, document cameras, graphical elements such as instructional charts and diagrams, and computers. Others include in-class tweets and chats tools such as b-Courses discussion tool, a projector with an interactive whiteboard functionality, tablet devices for both students and teachers, and an academic innovation studio (Edwards et al., 2014). The below pictures portray the proposed classroom appearances for this Preschool Learning Center.
Source: (Edwards et al., 2014).
Moreover, the learning environment of this organization will further be enhanced by installing a play structure that will help children engage in co-curricular activities that are essential for their physical development. The play structure will comprise of an open field where the children can engage in various games such as football, a social hall where children can play with toys and safe swinging machines that will be available in the playground of the institution (Anders et al., 2012). The total costs that will be incurred in ensuring that this combination of play structure exists in this Preschool Learning Center are approximately $ 250,000. The center will also have employee spaces such as teachers’ and servants’ quarters where these staff will be hosted to facilitate easy management of the center by ensuring that all the key employees are easily accessible in case of an emergency. These quarters will provide the employees with accommodation services.
In addition, a preschool educational curriculum will be employed in obtaining proper educational guidelines on how to promote the learning and development of children in this organization. This curriculum is the best for use in this setting since it provides educators with proper educational guidelines on how to promote the learning process of children in the academic domains of literacy, oral language, and physical activities (Sofou & Tsafos, 2010). Since children as the target customers of this organization will be very young, this educational curriculum will not comprise of advanced guidelines on subjects such as mathematics and science. Some of the expected benefits to be realized as a result of using this curriculum include comprehensive learning of the children, prepares children for kindergarten and beyond, and provides new experiences for the holistic development of children (Sofou & Tsafos, 2010). Other advantages include nurturing the personal growth and curiosity of children, thus facilitating their cognitive development, enhancing the social skills and confidence level, facilitating parent involvement in the learning process, and supporting teacher training and support. The numerous benefits that this curriculum offers to children, including supporting a joined collaboration between teachers, parents, and children, make it properly fit in this organization.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is essential to establish a comprehensive business plan before starting-up an organization such as the education center that has been discussed. Some of the critical components that need to be critically and comprehensively addressed in the business plan to ensure that the intended purpose is achieved include the estimated operational costs, the personnel who will be involved in performing daily operations and the nature of the learning environment that should be put into place based on the intended customers who will be served.