History

The LEISD Childcare Program is an early care and learning program providing an age appropriate and developmentally appropriate educational foundation for children, infants-Kinderbound 5 years of age, based on the best practice of play for young children.

The LEISD Childcare Center opened in August 2000 at the District's 101 Main campus to provide care of children of Little Elm Independent School District employees. The name was changed to LEISD Childcare Programs in August 2007. The Herschel Zellars Center for Learning and Leadership, located at 300 lobo Lane, is now the service location for all district childcare.

Operational Guidelines

The LEISD Childcare Program is licensed and regulated by the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. The Minimum Standards serve as the basic operational guidelines.

The Program, as district entity, is responsible to adhere to district policies. CCP employees must abide by the Employee Handbook, as well as demonstrate a working knowledge of state licensing regulations, LEISD Childcare Program's Policies and Procedures, and any other validating/credentialling agencies the Program partners with.

The Texas Rising Star program is "a voluntary, quality-based child care rating system of child care providers participating n the Texas Workforce Commission's subsidized child care program." The TRS Provider certification system offers three levels of certification (Two-Star, Three-Star and Four-Star) to encourage providers to attain progressively higher certification requirements leading to a Four-Star level.

The LEISD Childcare Program is a Texas Rising Star (TRS) provider with an agreement to serve Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) subsidized children and to voluntarily meet requirements that exceed the State's Minimum Child Care Licensing (CCL) Standards. The LIESD Childcare Program is committed to offer quality care that exceeds the State's Minimum Child Care Licensing Standards for staff qualifications and training, staff-child interactions, age-appropriate curricula and activities, and parent involvement, ensuring a better contribution to the early development of children.

The LEISD Childcare Program entered into Self-study to work towards achieving validation from the National Accreditation Commission. Self-study is an in-depth self-assessment of all aspects of the program, including administrative review, classroom observation, staff and family surveys and professional development plans that culminate in an on-site validation visit. The Administrator's Report, Classroom Observations, written validator comments and recorded director responses from the onsite visit are closely reviewed. Commission rules are then applied to determine the award, deferral or denial of accreditation.

Classroom curriculum is based on topics of typical interest to young children, with emphasis in all developmental domains. The infant environment is enriched with print-rich literacy and an introduction to sign language. The Toddler Classrooms introduce and work towards completion of toilet training. PreSchool classrooms incorporate Handwriting without Tears, E-Circle classroom management, as well as play and Project Based Learning concepts of Kindergarten preparation.