New news 1/20/14

I don't think many of you are actually following this, but nevertheless it is my way of staying current and documenting my east coast adventure.
 My new job with Children Youth and family Services is wonderful. I really like my coworkers and my supervisor. They are very smart, funny, engaged thoughtful women who are truly dedicated to early education. My supervisor is a LCSW, one of my coworkers is an Infant Toddler Specialist and the other was a director and teacher for a long time like myself, with a BA. I am the only one of the team with an MA.

My job title is Child Care Quality Educator and as such I will eventually be assigned to some number of child care programs to coach, mentor and train staff working on their quality improvement plan. The centers join the program voluntarily and receive an initial star rating based on scores using the CLASS tool and ECERS (environmental raring scale). They are rated on various aspects of the program including policies, classroom environment, staff qualifications, materials, teacher child interactions, routines, and curriculum. Probably more areas also, I am just learning!

In February I will be going to a 3 day mentor training to learn what that looks like here in Virginia. This is all part of the Virginia Star Quality Initiative, a state wide program for improvement of early childhood programs, licensed and family based. In march i will go to a 3 week training to become a Star Quality Rater so i can go into centers and rate them. I will not rate the centers I will be mentoring, but rating other centers. This is paid for by my agency with hotel and food! I will be an independent contractor and get paid separately for rating.

For my own centers I will take the ratings and help the program develop a quality improvement plan and then mentor them in meeting their goals for improvement. This is a 5 star scale, and there are very few 5 star rated programs here.

It is an amazing agency as well. The ED is a very professional and smart woman as are every other employee I have met so far. The agency has many different programs for children and families, I will attach a link so you can check it out if you want.

www.cyfs.org

What I really like is the dedication, the integrity, transparency, and positive climate of the office, and agency as a whole. People are smiling, working, interacting, sharing, and they all go home at 4:30. It is a very family friendly agency and employees are respected and treated as professionals. YES! My work day is 8:30-4:30 with some evening staff trainings I will do, but that time is comped later so I can leave early or take a long lunch (which is paid hour btw)! Love that. The office is very quiet on Fridays as many folks work a 30 hr week and others seem to find a way to take the day at home working or otherwise off!

People have commented on how quickly I have built my life here. Reflecting on that I remind them that I have been crafting this for 5 years with very clear intentions and a vision of what i wanted for this next stage of my life. The universe clearly was paying attention and when i made the leap of faith, there it all was just waiting for me. Not to say it is all perfect!

Financially I have taken a hit, I broke my wrist and it is still sore after a lot of typing, but getting stronger. I moved again from a sweet little tidy apartment to a house which was filthy when I arrived. It is now sorted, but it is weird to be living in someone else's house with their stuff. I have put away a lot, but much remains and my style is very different. Regardless, my animals now have easy access to the outside, I am only 5 mins from work and grocery, and have a lovely neighborhood with lots of trees to walk in! Not complaining. It is cold, but I like it, it has snowed, but no blizzards, it has rained a lot and I am grateful.

Beginning to make friends, have a regular Saturday walk partner, Robbie, who is a friend of my sisters I have know for years. Went to an hilarious play with my supervisor, Dirty barbie and other Girlhood Tales. A one woman show about growing up with an alcoholic mother in the south during the late 70's-80's, in a family of four. Very familiar material to say the least! Crazy funny, tragic, and poignant. Miss going out dancing and listening to music, but that too is very available once I have some funds!

All in all I am happy and content and feeling very lucky.