Childcare Executive Academy
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Run your childcare center like a true executive

The Childcare Executive Academy gives directors and owners a complete leadership operating system — from financial statements and strategic plans to staff culture, compliance, and enrollment growth — so you can finally lead the organization, not just manage the chaos.

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Childcare Executive Academy

"You already have the heart for this work — I'm here to give you the executive tools to match it."

Wanda Holmes

What you'll learn

What you'll be able to do

  • Build and execute a multi-year strategic plan tailored to a childcare center's growth goals and community mission.
  • Develop and manage a center budget, read financial statements, and make data-driven decisions to maximize profitability.
  • Design and lead high-retention staff cultures, including hiring frameworks, performance management, and team development.
  • Navigate federal, state, and local licensing regulations and establish compliance systems that protect the center year-round.
  • Create and implement a center-wide marketing and enrollment strategy to maintain full capacity and a healthy waitlist.
  • Lead through organizational crises — from staff turnover to licensing audits — with a clear executive decision-making framework.

How it works

A school that adapts to you

This isn't a set of static videos. Every lesson is generated live and tuned to where you actually are.

We learn your level

A quick placement check tailors your starting point so you're never bored or lost.

Lessons adapt as you go

Each lesson is written for your pace and your goal, adjusting as your skills grow.

Your AI coach keeps you moving

Checkpoints, feedback, and gentle nudges turn progress into a real result.

The curriculum

What's inside your school

6 modules · 27 lessons

1

The Executive Mindset: Leading from the Top

Shifts directors and owners from operational mode into a true executive leadership identity and strategic thinking framework.

  • 1.1From Director to Executive: Redefining Your RoleIncluded
  • 1.2Your Leadership Style and Executive PresenceIncluded
  • 1.3Time, Priorities, and Getting Out of the WeedsIncluded
  • 1.4Building Your Executive Decision-Making FrameworkIncluded
2

Strategic Planning for Childcare Growth

Guides leaders through designing and executing a multi-year strategic plan aligned with their center's growth goals and community mission.

  • 2.1Defining Your Center's Vision, Mission, and ValuesIncluded
  • 2.2Conducting a Strategic Assessment of Your CenterIncluded
  • 2.3Setting Multi-Year Goals and Strategic PrioritiesIncluded
  • 2.4Executing, Monitoring, and Adapting Your Strategic PlanIncluded
3

Financial Leadership and Center Profitability

Equips executives to read financial statements, build and manage budgets, and make data-driven decisions that maximize the center's financial health.

  • 3.1Reading Financial Statements with ConfidenceIncluded
  • 3.2Building and Managing Your Annual Center BudgetIncluded
  • 3.3Pricing, Revenue Streams, and Subsidy ProgramsIncluded
  • 3.4Key Financial Metrics and Data-Driven Decision MakingIncluded
  • 3.5Financial Planning for Expansion and Capital InvestmentIncluded
4

People Leadership: Culture, Hiring, and Staff Development

Develops the executive's ability to build a high-retention staff culture through strong hiring, performance management, and team growth systems.

  • 4.1Designing a High-Retention Staff CultureIncluded
  • 4.2Hiring Frameworks That Attract the Right TeachersIncluded
  • 4.3Performance Management and Difficult ConversationsIncluded
  • 4.4Staff Development, Career Pathways, and CoachingIncluded
  • 4.5Compensation Strategy and Benefits on a Childcare BudgetIncluded
5

Compliance, Licensing, and Risk Management

Prepares executives to confidently navigate federal, state, and local childcare regulations and build year-round compliance systems.

  • 5.1The Childcare Regulatory Landscape: Federal, State, and LocalIncluded
  • 5.2Building a Compliance Calendar and Audit-Ready SystemsIncluded
  • 5.3Health, Safety, and Risk Management ProtocolsIncluded
  • 5.4Leading Through a Licensing Audit or InvestigationIncluded
6

Enrollment Growth, Marketing, and Crisis Leadership

Combines enrollment and marketing strategy with an executive crisis framework to ensure sustainable capacity and organizational resilience.

  • 6.1Building a Center-Wide Enrollment and Marketing StrategyIncluded
  • 6.2Digital Presence, Social Media, and Local SEO for ChildcareIncluded
  • 6.3Retention, Referrals, and Building a Healthy WaitlistIncluded
  • 6.4Crisis Leadership: A Framework for High-Stakes SituationsIncluded
  • 6.5Leading Organizational Change and Communicating with StakeholdersIncluded

Who it's for

Is this you?

The Overextended Director

She's been running the center for years but is still the one solving every problem — this program gives her the executive frameworks to finally lead from the top.

The New Center Owner

He just purchased or opened a childcare center and needs a complete operating system — financial, regulatory, and strategic — before the learning curve costs him.

The Aspiring Executive

She's a lead teacher or assistant director ready to move into a director role and wants to arrive prepared, not overwhelmed.

The Multi-Site Operator

He's expanding to a second or third location and needs strategic planning, financial leadership, and culture-building skills that scale beyond a single classroom.

The Mission-Driven Leader

She's built a center with a strong community mission but wants the business and compliance skills to make sure it's financially sustainable for the long haul.

The Experienced Director Leveling Up

She's been in the role for a decade but wants the formal frameworks — strategic planning, financial analysis, crisis leadership — that hands-on experience alone couldn't fully provide.

Questions

Frequently asked

Your teacher

A note from your teacher

Wanda Holmes

Wanda Holmes

If you've been leading a childcare center for any length of time, you already know the feeling: you came into this work because you care deeply about children, families, and your community — and now you're spending your days chasing down licensing paperwork, covering a classroom because a teacher called out, staring at a budget that doesn't quite add up, and wondering when you're supposed to find time to actually lead.

I've spent my career working alongside childcare directors and owners, and I can tell you that what keeps talented, passionate people stuck isn't a lack of dedication — it's a lack of the right frameworks. The childcare industry is genuinely complex. You're running a licensed healthcare-adjacent operation, a small business, a human services organization, and a community anchor all at once. There's no MBA program that covers that combination. Most of us had to cobble together what we know from hard experience, expensive mistakes, and advice that was only half-applicable to our world.

That's exactly why I built the Childcare Executive Academy. This program is what I wish had existed when I was stepping into executive leadership in early childhood. It's built around six pillars that I believe every childcare executive must master: leading from an executive mindset, strategic planning, financial literacy and profitability, people leadership and culture, compliance and risk management, and enrollment growth paired with the ability to lead through crises. None of it is borrowed from a generic business curriculum and dropped into childcare language. Every framework, every tool, every example was built from the ground up for the realities you face.

I also want to say something directly: I respect that you are already a professional. You know your families, your staff, your community, and your classroom in ways that no curriculum can replace. What I can give you is the executive operating system that sits on top of that expertise — so that your knowledge translates into a thriving, financially strong, well-run organization that reflects the mission you set out to build.

This program will challenge you to think differently about your role, your time, and your potential. But it will never talk down to you or ask you to leave your childcare identity at the door. Come ready to grow, and I promise you'll leave with clarity, confidence, and a real plan. I'd be honored to be the mentor in your corner as you make this step.

Welcome to the Academy.

Wanda Holmes

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  • 6 modules, 27 lessons
  • AI-adaptive lessons tuned to your level
  • Quizzes & checkpoints to lock in progress
  • Your own AI learning coach
  • Learn on any device, at your pace
  • Full access for as long as you're subscribed