Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/small-is-beautiful-advantages-of-a-small-program/5010115/
When the program I manage was founded in 1971, it was a typical sized child care center. By today's standards, it is small. No, I don't mean small. I mean really small. So small that whenever the editor of this magazine sends me a questionnaire asking about size I get to check the first box and race right to the next question. Yes, I admit it. Even after a decade of an incredible expansion trend nation wide, our program is still just under 50 FTE children. (FTE stands for full time equivalent children, NOT fidgety, temperamental, and exasperating children . . . well, most of the time anyway.)Am I a failure at the child care game? Sometimes I feel like it. Sometimes I think if I were a better director, our program would be bigger. I've wanted to expand our program to serve more children. Whenever I have read the latest statistics on the unmet need for quality child care, I have felt downright obligated and pressured to seek expansion funds. (I've served on three different campus-wide committees over a 12 year period. Obviously, our university budget makers ...