Season of Change
Important Updates on The Cottages
We wanted to take a moment to touch base with everyone and inform you of some changes at The Cottages. We understand that change can be difficult and want to ensure we are providing you with a certain level of transparency as we move through these changes. As always, should you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me via email at michelle@thecottagespreschool.com.
A New Location For The Cottages
After almost 10 years on our current campus we find ourselves looking for a new location. Our landlords, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota-Manatee received a large donation a while back and have been working on revamping the campus and making adjustments with regard to the campus partners that better align with their focus on Jewish Life.
We want to assure you that The Cottages will not be closing and we will continue to provide exceptional early childhood education programing in Sarasota. We understand that this news may cause some families to worry, however we ask that you please place your trust in us as we move forward in securing a new location for The Cottages. Over the last 10 years, our program has been a leader in early childhood education and is known for the high quality care and education that we provide for young children in Sarasota and there is no doubt that we will continue to serve our community for many more years to come.
Our current lease is through December 31, 2019 and more than likely we will make the move over winter break and start 2020 off with a fresh start at our new location. We are currently working with Brian Seidel with American Property Group and Brian Lichterman with Vision Planning and Design on a location on Cattlemen Rd. that meets our needs and is 3 miles away. As I’m sure you can imagine, there are a lot of moving parts that will be happening behind the scenes. Judy and I will be working together diligently on this project. We will keep you informed as we move forward with the process. If you have any contacts or connections with county officials such as zoning and planning, contractors, plumbers, etc. who may be able to help us through this process please let me know.
Though we have a lot of work ahead of us for the remainder of the year, we are excited for a fresh start and look forward to what the future holds for The Cottages!
Circle of Friends - Our New Sister School
During our search for a child care facility for The Cottages new home I came across another local high quality early childhood program that was for sale. I was not looking to take on another program right now, but felt a strong calling to do so. It was a program and building that I have always adored. In March, I took over ownership at Circle of Friends Preschool on Webber St. At COF I promoted a teacher who has worked for the program for many years as the Director and have been training her for the last 2 months. It is a wonderful program with many similarities as The Cottages
As you know, creating high quality early childhood programs is something that I am supremely passionate about. For the last couple of years I have been pulled into the desire of wanting to create a larger impact on the community with regard to early childhood education. As someone who has been in the field over 22 years and has worked in every position in a preschool program, I know first hand the issues that early childhood programs face. Not only do I want to protect the wonder and magic of early childhood for the children, but to also help early childhood educators harness the joy of teaching in an ever changing industry. Additionally, I feel compelled to work as an advocate on behalf of the children, teachers, and parents on issues that must be addressed on a local level. In having 2 early childhood programs and Directors in place at both centers this will eventually allow me the time and resources to push forward and create positive change not only for our programs, but for the community.
Well Wishes for Ms. Liz
It is with mixed emotions that we must tell you that Ms. Liz has accepted a position with the Early Learning Coalition of Manatee County. Though we are sad to see Ms. Liz move on from The Cottages, we are equally excited for her and this next step in her career as working for the ELC has always been a career aspiration of hers. The ELC of Manatee County is one the largest coalitions in the state and will provide Ms. Liz with additional opportunities to support many early childhood programs as well as provide additional opportunities in the future for her professional growth. As you know, Ms. Liz has been at The Cottages for 8 years and this was a very difficult decision for her. Though Ms. Liz was not looking to make a career move at the moment, she was presented with an amazing opportunity with a position that aligned with her career goals by a close friend who has worked at the ELC for 10 years. After 14 years of being in administration in early childhood programs and the fact that we are at the end of the academic year, the timing was just right for her to make a lateral move in her career. We couldn’t be happier for her and excited for all the programs she will mentor in her new position.
Ms. Liz will always be a part of The Cottages family and we will most certainly still see her around. Her last day at The Cottages will be on Thursday, May 16th. She will however be joining us for Graduation and The Cottages 10th Birthday Celebration. Please join us in wishing Ms. Liz the very best as she steps into her new position supporting the field of early childhood education in Manatee County.
Congratulations to Ms. Amanda!
We are thrilled to announce that Ms. Amanda has accepted the position of Director at The Cottages. Ms. Amanda has been at The Cottages for 6 years and has been an integral part of our program. Ms. Amanda joined the admin team at The Cottages last year and has been a mentor to our teachers as the Curriculum Coordinator and Supervisor. Prior to coming to The Cottages she worked as the Assistant Director for another local school and has the necessary credentials and skills to be a Director.
Ms. Amanda is super passionate about early childhood education and providing support to teachers and children alike. She has a wealth of knowledge and insight when it comes to creating play-based, Reggio inspired learning environments and we are beyond excited for her in this new role as she will be able to support all of our teachers and children in a much more meaningful way. In 2018 the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota County sought out Ms. Amanda to teach a Loose Parts training at the ELC's annual conference as well as at the Directors Connection Meeting. Ms. Amanda and I share the same vision of what high quality early childhood education programs should look like and have brainstormed ideas for quite some time on ways to evolve at The Cottages. With her taking on the role of the Director she will now have the additional time to make these dreams a reality at The Cottages. We are so grateful for Ms. Amanda and all she has done to support The Cottages over the years. We have known for some time that Ms. Amanda would make a wonderful Director. We look forward to continuing to work with her as she steps into her new leadership role at The Cottages. Please join us in congratulating her!
Our Recent Lockdown
I wanted to take a moment to discuss the lockdown on Friday, April 26th. As you are aware, typically in an emergency situation our families are notified via email. Unfortunately, due to several circumstances that afternoon, you were not notified. We sincerely apologize for the lack of communication and have put systems in place to ensure that does not happen again in the future. That afternoon, I was at the hospital with my grandmother and did not have my computer on me to send out an email notification. Ms. Liz was also off as she was out of town for her anniversary weekend. Ms. Judy and Ms. Amanda did not have the family distribution lists in their email contacts and time did not permit them to send out emails or make phone calls as they were called to action. They both now have the distribution lists set up in their email accounts to allow for easy notification. Because of the time of day, families were picking up and Ms. Amanda was escorting them to their child’s classroom and taking phone calls as they came in from families. While we are sorry that this happened, we are also grateful as it allowed us to evaluate our emergency plans and procedures.
That afternoon, we heard a helicopter overhead and called the non-emergency number for the Sheriff’s department. We gave our address, asked what was going on and asked if it was necessary to go on lockdown. We were told that they were in the area, however they could not give us details and it was not necessary to go on lockdown. Ms. Amanda and Ms. Judy decided to go on lockdown as a precaution as they also noticed emergency vehicles at McIntosh Middle. We called the non-emergency number again about 20 minutes later and still did not get anywhere. We received a call from the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota to see if we were on lockdown as they were getting calls from other preschools in the area looking for advise on whether or not to go on lockdown. As you can imagine with social media, we were getting conflicting information from families as they were picking up their children regarding the situation.
This entire situation put a cause for concern, not just for us, but for all early childhood programs and the lack of an effective notification system when it comes to emergency situations. I have been in contact with many local agencies including the Sheriff’s Department, the Sarasota County School Board, and the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota County as well as Cottage Families who work/have worked for theses agencies. This one crucial issue that effects our industry and needs change on a local level which I am passionately pursuing. Through our discussions with these organizations we were able to find out about a couple notification systems that will provide information until a proper system can be put into place for early childhood programs. We have signed up for Code Red which is a notification system for Sarasota County residents that alerts you on public safety, health and wellness purposes. For more information on Code Red and to sign up visit
https://www.scgov.net/government/utilities-water/utilities/codered-notification-system. Additionally, I have been in contact with Tim Enos, the Police Chief and Head of Security for Sarasota County Schools. We have been added to their Critical Incident Email Group. This notification system is what is used to notify our public schools of incidents and whether schools are on lockdown, limited lockdown or being evacuated. This system also notifies when the incident has been cleared. We are grateful to have learned about these notification systems which certainly helps to put us at ease and have shared the information with the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota so they can share the information with other local preschools.
As you know, our front gate also happened to break on the day of the incident. Talk about a perfect storm! We have replaced the lock temporarily until the new lock arrives, as it is a special order item. We ask that you help us preserve the integrity of the lock and do not allow your child to manipulate the lock. Only adults should know the code and enter it. We also ask that you do not allow your child to hold onto the handles and swing from the gate or push the gate shut. We appreciate your help!
Staff Turnover
We understand that staff turnover can be a cause for concern for many families. While we understand your concern and share your frustration we want you to know that a certain level of staff turnover is unfortunately part of our industry and part of life for that matter. There are also times when things are not always black and white and the way things appear from outside are not always accurate. For many teachers, working at a preschool is a stepping stone to gain knowledge and hands on experience as an educator. Sadly, the truth is that preschools are just not able to compete with larger organizations when it comes to salary and benefits. We also love our teachers and want the very best for them in their career endeavors. This is one reason why we offer the TEACH scholarship program at The Cottages. As a recipient of the TEACH scholarship our employees can get up to a Masters degree and only pay for 10% of the tuition and books while also receiving a stipend each semester and reimbursement from the Early Learning Coalition of Sarasota to lessen the cost of formal education even more. While some may say that we are in a sense helping to add to staff turnover, we want to support our employees reach their goals in life.
There are other factors that come into play when it comes to hiring and retaining early childhood educators. Unfortunately, when the economy is good, our workforce is greatly affected. Additionally, over the years the amount of bureaucracy has flooded our industry and has greatly affected our pool of quality early childhood educators. It now takes much more time and effort to find quality teachers. At The Cottages, we are careful in who we hire and look at many facets when choosing the right candidate to join our Teacher Tribe. There have most certainly been times when we may hire someone knowing that it is temporary, however we believe that they have something to offer our program. We have been looking for quite some time for additional teachers to join our program and have reached out to local colleges and preparatory programs in our community. While we have received many resumes, the truth is that we want to ensure that we hire the right people with a variety of skill sets and experiences. We also want teachers who are not just wonderful with the children, but who are also team players who are supportive of their co-workers and the needs and goals of the program. We are excited about the candidates that will be joining our program in the near future. We are also looking at restructuring how we staff at The Cottages to better align with our field in today’s world. As we move through this process, we will update the families accordingly.
Closing Note
We want you to know how much we sincerely appreciate your support of our program as well as your patience and understanding as we work through this transitional period of growth and change at The Cottages. We understand that change can be difficult and it doesn’t always feel good, but it is through times of change that growth can occur. And yes going through change creates an additional level of work (and organized chaos) behind the scenes, we want you to know that we are welcoming these changes as they will assist us in our evolution as a program. We want to assure you that the quality of our program, the care and education your children receive, will not be compromised and that our goal as we move forward is to only improve our program for all of our stakeholders. The support of our families is one of the things that makes The Cottages a truly unique school. We appreciate you all so much and are so grateful to be surrounded by such amazing families. We want you to know that we do not take the trust you have put into us lightly and with every decision we make your children are always our number one priority.