Lead your team — don't just survive it
Childcare Leader Lab gives directors and lead educators a practical, step-by-step system for hiring, onboarding, and retaining a high-performing staff team — so you can finally lead with confidence instead of putting out fires all day.
"You don't need to choose between being a warm leader and a clear one — this lab teaches you to be both."
— Wanda Holmes
What you'll learn
What you'll be able to do
- Design a structured hiring and onboarding process that gets new staff classroom-ready faster
- Identify each team member's strengths and assign roles that maximize performance and satisfaction
- Facilitate productive staff meetings and difficult one-on-one conversations with confidence
- Build a center culture where educators feel valued, supported, and motivated to stay
- Create clear performance expectations and conduct fair, effective staff evaluations
- Reduce costly staff turnover by implementing proven recognition and retention strategies
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 · 25 lessons
Foundations of Childcare Leadership
Establishes the mindset, self-awareness, and core responsibilities that define effective childcare center leadership.
- 1.1The Director as Leader, Not Just ManagerIncluded
- 1.2Know Your Leadership StyleIncluded
- 1.3Understanding Your Center's Team EcosystemIncluded
- 1.4Setting Your Leadership Priorities and 90-Day PlanIncluded
Hiring the Right People
Guides directors through building a structured, bias-aware hiring process that consistently attracts and selects mission-aligned educators.
- 2.1Defining the Role Before You Post the JobIncluded
- 2.2Sourcing Candidates in a Competitive MarketIncluded
- 2.3Structured Interviews That Predict Real PerformanceIncluded
- 2.4Making the Offer and Avoiding Common Hiring MistakesIncluded
Onboarding New Staff for Fast, Lasting Success
Provides a repeatable onboarding framework that gets new educators classroom-ready quickly while building loyalty from day one.
- 3.1Designing a 30-60-90 Day Onboarding PlanIncluded
- 3.2First-Day and First-Week Experiences That Build BelongingIncluded
- 3.3Pairing New Hires with Mentors and BuddiesIncluded
- 3.4Checking In, Adjusting, and Confirming Fit EarlyIncluded
Maximizing Every Team Member's Strengths
Teaches directors to identify individual strengths, assign roles strategically, and communicate in ways that bring out the best in each staff member.
- 4.1Strengths-Based Team AssessmentIncluded
- 4.2Matching Roles and Responsibilities to StrengthsIncluded
- 4.3Communicating Effectively Across Different PersonalitiesIncluded
- 4.4Coaching vs. Managing — Developing Staff Every DayIncluded
Communication, Meetings, and Difficult Conversations
Builds the conversation skills directors need to run productive meetings, give honest feedback, and navigate conflict with confidence.
- 5.1Running Staff Meetings People Actually ValueIncluded
- 5.2Delivering Feedback That Changes BehaviorIncluded
- 5.3Navigating Difficult One-on-One ConversationsIncluded
- 5.4Managing Conflict Between Staff MembersIncluded
Performance, Culture, and Staff Retention
Equips directors to set clear expectations, evaluate performance fairly, build a values-driven culture, and keep great educators long-term.
- 6.1Setting Clear Performance ExpectationsIncluded
- 6.2Conducting Fair and Effective Staff EvaluationsIncluded
- 6.3Building a Center Culture Where Educators Want to StayIncluded
- 6.4Recognition and Reward Strategies That Actually WorkIncluded
- 6.5Creating a Long-Term Retention and Succession PlanIncluded
Who it's for
Is this you?
First-time directors
She just stepped into the director chair and needs a clear leadership foundation before the chaos sets the agenda for her.
Veteran directors starting fresh
She's been running centers for years but wants to finally systematize her hiring and retention instead of relying on instinct and luck.
Program managers
He oversees a multi-site early childhood program and needs consistent team-building practices across every location.
Lead educators going into leadership
She's excellent in the classroom and was just tapped to lead a team — now she needs to shift from educator to leader without losing herself.
Directors battling high turnover
She's tired of the revolving door and is ready to put real retention and culture strategies in place that actually keep good educators around.
Owner-operators of small centers
He wears every hat in his small center and wants structured hiring and onboarding tools so each new hire counts and sticks.
Questions
Frequently asked
Your teacher
A note from your teacher
Wanda Holmes
If you're reading this, I'm guessing you became a director because you love children, you believe in quality early childhood education, and someone — maybe your own director, maybe the universe — handed you a team to lead. And nobody handed you a manual.
I know what it's like to sit in that office chair wondering why your best hire just quit, dreading a staff meeting you know is going to go sideways, or staying late to write an evaluation you've been putting off for three months because you're not sure you're doing it right. That exhausting, reactive, just-keep-the-center-running feeling? That's not a character flaw. It's what happens when talented, caring people are put in leadership roles without the right structure and support underneath them.
That's exactly why I built Childcare Leader Lab. Not to teach you abstract leadership theory — there's plenty of that out there and very little of it helps you handle Tuesday morning. I built it to give you the actual frameworks, tools, and real-world language that make the difference between leading a team and surviving one. From writing a job post that attracts the right candidates, to designing an onboarding experience that gets new staff confident and classroom-ready in their first 30 days, to running a staff meeting your team genuinely finds useful — every piece of this lab is grounded in the realities of childcare center life.
Here's the thing I most want you to hear: you don't have to choose between being warm and being clear. Between being caring and being direct. The best childcare leaders I know are both — and the skills to do that are learnable. Giving feedback that actually changes behavior. Having the hard one-on-one you've been avoiding. Building a culture where your educators feel genuinely valued — not just thanked in a staff meeting once a year. These aren't personality traits you either have or don't. They're practices you can build.
The directors who go through this lab come out the other side with something specific: confidence. Confidence in who they're hiring and why. Confidence in how they're communicating. Confidence that they have a real plan for keeping their best people, not just hoping they'll stay. That's what I want for you. Come join us — your team is worth it, and so are you.
— Wanda Holmes
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- 6 modules, 25 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