Staff Qualifications and Training

We are fortunate to have and maintain a highly qualified staff.

Staff Qualifications

All of our 27 instructional staff members meet and exceed the California requirements for early childhood educators and have completed at least the 12 core credit hours. Three hold Directors Permits. Two are Mentor Teachers and work with colleges and universities to prepare other teachers for advanced service. Twelve (12) hold Site Supervisor Permits, which means that any of them could go to another program and be its leader. They choose instead to be at C5, work with their other talented team members, and apply the philosophy and practices that we have developed and that we all continue to work together to improve upon.

C5 may occasionally have in the program in limited roles and on a temporary basis: interns or assistants who are from colleges or universities who are in their advanced work on early childhood education, or experienced professionals from other early childhood programs, colleges, universities, and government agencies who want to learn how C5 works and experience it firsthand. We also have access to and work with, as needed, consultants in the areas of social, emotional, cognitive, and physical development.

Colleges and universities ask C5 staff members each semester to come to their schools and present to their students and staff how we work with children, parents, families, community members, and our colleagues in the field of education.

Staff Development

C5 holds comprehensive professional development and training on a regular basis. We also facilitate individual teachers in their Professional Growth Planning and fulfillment in line with the California Early Childhood Education Professional Permits and Certification for Teaching.

All staff members are engaged in ongoing professional development. It consists of both formal training and study and informal discussions and individual study. Professional development is a cornerstone of our commitment to and progress toward becoming a vital learning organization for staff, parents, and children and where we prepare ourselves to skillfully support children in learning and developing to their highest potential.

Formal Training and Study

Formal work is typically done through community colleges, colleges and universities, professional conferences, and staff professional development sessions.

Staff members who are in positions of supervision and administration at C5 hold Bachelors or Masters Degrees in their field from accredited colleges or universities, have many years of leadership experience, and continue their professional development. Individuals who aspire to these positions are encouraged to achieve the same level of preparation.

Each staff member is expected to continue their formal study beyond the 12 units of Early Childhood Education required by the State of California. C5 provides funds for each staff member to continue their education in schools, conferences, seminars, workshops, visitations, and through educational materials.

Other formal development is through C5’s professional development program. The program includes four full days during the year when the staff meets quarterly for in-depth training and discussions and monthly staff meetings. The program is among the most comprehensive, diverse, and rich ongoing early childhood education training experiences in the U.S.

Our professional development also involves related activities, such as all staff members preparing for training, reading follow-up materials, reporting on what they learned, and integrating it into their work with children, families, and their colleagues.

There are also opportunities for staff members to be assisted in preparing and presenting their work to conferences and special seminars; some of which are hosted by C5 and held in the state-of-the-art conference center in the C5 Preschool Center building.

The full staff also meets once each month to cover many issues, including health and safety, procedures, scheduling, joint inquiry into projects that are ongoing in the classrooms, and to receive brief modules of professional development. These meetings typically include a full staff session, Center-level meetings, and team-level sessions. Staff members also frequently present and facilitate discussion at these meetings of their recent experiences and learning at conferences, workshops, and seminars. Other team-level meetings are held during the month when time and circumstances allow, usually about once each week during the children’s nap time.

In addition, individual staff members are scheduled to meet once a week with their team leader, their Center Director, or the Director of Learning to discuss their work, to plan strategies for the application of new learning, to problem-solve special issues, and to discuss what resources are needed.

Throughout the school year, we participate in and conduct a variety of workshops and seminars that support our comprehensive and caring curriculum and focus on how we work with each other, with parents, with family members, with our strategic partners, and with the community.

C5 has a “Bridge to Reggio” program where two staff members are selected each year to travel to Reggio Emilia, Italy as part of the U.S. delegation on a one week study tour of the world famous Reggio preprimary schools and participate in the daily conferences and seminars led by the staff from the schools; the town’s education and government officials; consultants from the town and schools collaborative, Reggio Children; and, professors from Modena University, such as Carlina Rinaldi.

Informal Discussions and Individual Study

Informal work is often a course of study that is part of each staff person’s individual development plan. It can also include activities that are agreed upon during weekly one-on-one meetings with Center Directors and during performance appraisal conferences with supervisors.

Informal work usually includes discussions with other staff members at team meetings, conferences with supervisors, suggested books and articles to read, special events to attend, examination of the situation and dynamics within their own classrooms, special experimental activities, research on the Internet and in libraries, visits to other educational programs, and exchange of ideas with other professionals within and outside their field or specialty.