by Dean Backes
Special to The Leaven
KANSAS City, Kan. — Early learning center and preschool directors serve many families across the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. In the past, however, these individuals often operated in isolation with little to no networking or collaboration.
Recognizing the size of their collective voice, and the responsibilities of these 35 individuals, the archdiocesan Catholic schools office reached out to preschool leaders through surveys, emails, questions and Zooms to get a feel for how they could best serve them.
Several of the directors wished for the opportunity to assemble and discuss everything early childhood. Others acknowledged they didn’t know many of the directors, making it difficult to reach out to them.
With those responses and more in mind, Felicia Holcomb, consultant for marketing and enrollment management for archdiocesan Catholic schools, began facilitating monthly one-hour virtual meetings on Zoom for preschool directors across the archdiocese last August.
Her approach was informed by her mother-in-law Shannon Holcomb. She is the administrator of preschools for Xavier Catholic School in Leavenworth and had shared her experience with the Director’s Network in Topeka.
“We wanted to create an opportunity that brought [child care directors] together and allowed them to discuss current topics that were important to them,” said Felicia Holcomb. “Quite honestly, the challenges of a principal at a high school — or even a grade school — may not be applicable to the preschool directors. This is an opportunity for them to talk exclusively about preschool.”
Held every third Thursday, the meetings are open to all of the archdiocese’s preschool directors. Felicia Holcomb works up the agenda early in the school year, allowing each director to set aside time for the topics that are important to them.
A parishioner at Sacred Heart-St. Casimir Parish in Leavenworth, Felicia Holcomb brings in experts to discuss the topic that has been selected for that month and records the meetings, allowing the directors to review the Zoom chats they missed or to refresh their memories of the assemblies they attended.
“You get a leadership role. Now you’re a director or an administrator and your resources are your principal or maybe one other person,” said Shannon Holcomb, a fellow parishioner. “Looking for professional development for myself has been challenging. But once I discovered some of these leadership groups, they’ve fed my own knowledge, growth and development in my career.”
The first topic up for discussion last August dealt with curriculum resources. Then in September, representatives from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment and Cognia, a global network of educators whose goal is to strengthen schools, talked about accreditation and licensure.
Other discussions included professional development; budget and finance; recruitment of families and staff; and special education.
Sarah Elsen, the executive director of Child Care Aware of Northeast Kansas, was March’s guest presenter. She talked about legislation impacting early childhood education, discussed legislative issues that were up for debate this year at the statehouse and highlighted different regulations and changes that were being proposed.
Elsen said it’s important to give all children the best start in life.
“There are over 20 years of research that shows quality child care predicts third grade reading level, and third grade reading level is used by states to determine how many prison beds they’re going to need when those children reach 18,” Elsen said. “It all trickles down to that quality child care and that early start of life from zero to five.
“As long as [the directors] are kept current with professional development and trends in child care, they’re able to invest that back into the children and give them the best start in life during that critical stage of development.”
For some, preschool and early learning may be confused with day care. But Felicia Holcomb is quick to point out that they are doing more than just watching the kids. They’re developing the whole child.
“We want to ensure that kids are prepared for kindergarten when they make that transition,” she said. “It’s important that these individuals are able to come together and discuss their challenges, brainstorm solutions and advocate for early childhood education.”
At St. Ann Parish in Prairie Village, preschool director and parishioner Cara Schwarz enjoys getting into the classroom and being around the kids. She pops in and helps when she can, listens to their stories and prays with them before lunch and at snack time.
“I think that’s a big part of my faith,” Schwarz said when asked about helping others. “I’m always praying to God to guide me in what I can do to do the best at my job and to provide for the kids. These children are the future of our country, our society.
“Instilling Jesus’ love into them is so important.”
