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October 2025 Read More Talking with Mayor John Cotugno Strengthening Vero Beach's economy September 2025 Read More Transforming Tomorrow Construction Update Back to School at Childcare Resources August 2025 Read More Envisioning the Future in Downtown Vero Guiding Vision: A Message from our Honorary Chair Ready for Kindergarten, Ready for the World July 2025 Read More Building the Future: On Track and On Time The Leaders Driving our Vision Forward The Families Behind Transforming Tomorrow June 2025 Read More Room to Learn, Room to Lead Gratitude at End-of-Season Gathering Steering the Campaign from Vision to Impact

Learn more about the NAEYC-accredited Childcare Resources School. Childcare Resources School The Childcare Resources School opened as the Education Center in 2009. The School was first accredited by NAEYC in 2013, and renewed the accreditation in 2018. An expansion in 2020 added additional classrooms. Students at the Childcare Resources School also have access to a fully-equipped playground, garden area, STEAM room, and on-site therapy rooms. The School's license number is #C19IR0002 . Frequently asked questions What are the school's hours? The Childcare Resources School is open Monday through Friday, from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm. What is the school's license number? The Childcare Resources School's license number is #C19IR0002 What qualifications do teachers need? In addition to background screening, all of our teachers are required to obtain an FCCPC or CDA staff credential within one year of being hired. Does the school have classroom volunteers? Yes! Childcare Resources has a dedicated group of volunteers that are a valuable part of our school family. Our volunteers do everything from playground cleanup to serving lunch to providing one-on-one attention in classrooms. Childcare Resources policy is that a staff member is always present when a volunteer is working with a child. All volunteers are screened in the same manner as school staff. Is there a parent handbook? Yes, you can view the parent handbook here.

Explore Starfest, a luncheon with a twist that benefits early education in Indian River County. Starfest 2026 Thank you! Presenting Sponsors Janet G. Bailey Elke & George Fetterolf Galaxy Sponsors Anonymous Susie Hunter & Douglas Watson Maureen & John Hendricks Barbie Horton Linda & James Landers Karla & John Spooner Bonnie Hunter Tisi Constellation Sponsors Mary Sue Brown Carol & Timothy Buhl Judith Drexel Joan & Bill Gee Rosemary Haverland Kacy & Guy Mitchell John P. Moran Priscilla & James Morphy Judy & Stephan Newhouse Mary & Randy Rogers Lindy B. Street Ann Tharpe Susan van der Stricht Carolyn Veeneman Pat & Carol Welsh Star Wall Sponsor Croom Construction Valet Sponsor Alanson Horton Boden & Charlie Boden Stellar Sponsors Linda & Sam Block Nancy Edmiston Glenda & Jack Floyd Tim & Cindy Hultquist Anne Jamieson Linda Lemmon & Denis Conlon Wanda Lincoln Richard & Jill Murphy Piper Aircraft, Inc. Helen Taylor Robertson Starfest 2025

< Back Meet Jamari When Jamari first entered the infant room at Childcare Resources, he was a happy baby. But soon, teachers noticed that he was struggling to engage. The Wellness and Early Intervention team reached out to his mother Judean to ensure he received the proper support. “Jamari was able to enroll in one-on-one speech, occupational, and physical therapy during school hours, on-site. I was thrilled to find out these additional services were available for him,” says Judean. Through Speech and Occupational therapy, Jamari soon gained the skills he needed to interact with others in the classroom. Now at the age of three, he can grasp and communicate while maintaining eye contact, something he was incapable of before. “I see a major improvement in his communication abilities,” says Judean. “He has learned and developed so much. It is amazing to see him engage with others in play and read through the picture books he loves.” While Jamari was receiving support at Childcare Resources, Judean was pursuing her nursing degree. With the early drop-off time, year-round schedule, and affordable tuition, Judean was able to focus on her professional aspirations. “Working full-time and going to school is hard enough, let alone as a mother. Childcare Resources played a tremendous impact in reaching this milestone since I knew Jamari was safe every day.” In the spring semester, Judean graduated and is now currently working in her field. The supportive environment at Childcare Resources enriched Jamari’s early development and enabled his mother to pursue her career, supporting the entire family. “I am so grateful to Childcare Resources for providing a safe place for my child to learn and grow. Thank you for your passion and the phenomenal role you play in Jamari’s future!” Previous Next

Believe it or not, our mental “getaway” doesn’t need to be an elaborate vacation or expensive escape Coach's Column Amanda Gooch December 1, 2023 Are you as excited as we are for our next professional development day? We get to welcome Sally Haughey from Fairy Dust Teaching, now called Wunderled. Prepare to “Reset, Reboot, & Refuel” as she presents Saturday December 9th 2023. Just a friendly reminder, the workshop will be hosted at Indian River Charter High School. Together we will join Sally as she unpacks her play-activated pathway model. Throughout the day you will find your true teaching heart and honor your gifts as an early childhood educator. An emphasis will be placed on understanding brain science research around learning environments, children’s play, and why choice matters. The power of repetition and the beauty of everyday moments will be explored as we learn to appreciate the small meaningful interactions in our work and reflect on the science behind care. We can’t wait to see you all there! At Fairy Dust Teaching they strive to curate new ideas, strategies and resources to help early childhood educators save time and money. To learn more about Sally and Fairy Dust Teaching, click on the link below: Fairy Dust Teaching Throughout this last month we have enjoyed visiting your school sites and following up on our technical assistance from our last workshop. We have been able to see the continued evidence that you are pouring into your student’s “buckets” as you encourage positive behavior. It is incredibly rewarding to witness your classrooms express daily kindness, appreciation and love. In last month’s newsletter we explored how much we matter as educators. We discussed how when we help another person, we often become a portable source of energy for them. How sometimes we may need to provide the power or battery for them until they can handle things on their own and at other times, all we need to do is help them change their own batteries. But how can we check on our own portable source of energy, our own “battery” if you will? Sometime taking a break from technology gives us a chance to recharge our own batteries and helps us feel more mindful and aware of our surroundings. This mindfulness leads to a sense of control and empowerment. Suddenly, you feel like you can “Do The Things!” when before you might have just felt like you were running on empty. Believe it or not, our mental “getaway” doesn’t need to be an elaborate vacation or expensive escape. Here are fourteen simple ways to recharge your internal batteries without breaking the bank: 14 Ways to Recharge Your Internal Batteries We hope this holiday season allows many of you to return to the new year “recharged” as we elevate and promote the highest quality early childhood development and education in Indian River County. Wishing you the best, Amanda & Todd Back to Coaching Back to Newsletters

Tracey RN, BSN, Director, Wellness and Early Intervention at Childcare Resources of Indian River Tracey Griffis RN, BSN Director, Wellness and Early Intervention Student Wellness | Mental Health Referrals Joined Childcare Resources in 2017 Contact 772-567-3202 ext. 112 Back

Teachers often need the summer to refresh and recharge. Coach's Column Amanda Gooch May 1, 2025 What does our roadmap for high-impact teacher support look like? Being a teacher is hard work. Teachers often need the summer to refresh and recharge. Even those of you who work year-round typically spend the summer reorganizing, finalizing plans for the upcoming year and looking forward to the fresh start we all count on fall to bring. The school year may have brought many of you a wave of challenges. Admist all of these challenges, you were unable to recharge as often as you may have needed throughout the school year. When you are running on fumes, an already challenging job can feel overwhelming and sometimes impossible. It may often feel like the starting line of a marathon year. There will always be challenges hiding behind the bends and turns that you won't be aware of until they are right in front of you. You are going to need a compassionate, supporting team of people cheering you on and the rights tools in your toolbox to get you over the finish line. Luckily, contrary to popular belief, teaching is not a sole endeavor. Teaching is a team sport! So how can directors and administrators provide the kind of high-impact teacher support that gets teachers and students where they need to be? The kind of support educators need right now is something actionable, something they can apply right away. They need concrete examples of what this work looks like. They need scaffold support that will meet them where they are and show them how to take it to the next level, a road map to navigate the race route. This is where the partnership of our early childhood education coaches here at Childcare Resources comes in. We are here to support administrators and teachers as you create a culture of growth through goal setting, assessment and non-evaluative feedback. We help to support and accelerate growth through informal observations, training, modeling, mentoring, and professional development. As you enter into this summer season, how can we work in partnership with you to help finalize "survival guide" plans for next year? How can we map "fail proof" route so that there will be evidence for success for all? Let's coordinate the ultimate summer road trip with prepping for summer and into next school year. Step One: Determine your destination - Where will you go to get refreshed? What will you do what you get there? Step Two: Give yourself a check-up before you hit the open road - Your health and well-being need to be the first priority. Step Three: Don't forget to pack the essentials - Do you have all that you need to begin another incredible school year? What needs to be left behind? Step Four: Happy travels - Be in the moment. Do not worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself. If you are like us and run out of ideas to relax and de-stress over the summer, here are 86 ideas to choose from. Which one are you looking forward to trying? Stress Relief Tips Starting in June, our coaching team will be part-time until August! We look forward to working with you all when we return. Have an absolute incredible summer. Make sure to come back refreshed, revived and ready to an incredible new school year in August. Wishing you all the best, Amanda & Todd Back to Coaching Back to Newsletters

How can the outside be brought into your classroom? How can you create an environment that is respectful to the child? Coach's Column Paulette Maggiacomo May 14, 2020 Dr. Gigi Schroeder Yu joined us in April of 2017 at the Vero Beach Museum of Art to present the ‘Reggio Emilia’ approach to education. This approach began as a parent initiative in the region of Reggio Emilia Italy, in the aftermath of World War II. Parents from this town sought the help of Loris Malaguzzi to develop an early childhood education program that treated children with respect and recognized children as fundamentally creative and curious. The Reggio Emilia approach holds four basic principles: Children must have some control over the direction of their learning Children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, and observing Children must have a relationship with other children and with material items in the world that allows for exploration Children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves This approach also believes that there are three educators in a child’s learning journey: the teacher, the family and the environment. Today I would like to focus on environment as a teacher. Through research, we now see much more emphasis on children’s relationships with nature and the outdoors, and on the relation of living plants to the emotional and physical nourishment of human beings. We are blessed to live in Florida where our environment is filled with wonder and awe. How can the outside be brought into your classroom? How can you create an environment that is respectful to the child? This does not mean that you have to throw out what you have, but, how can you renew what you have and how can the dollar store, backyards, neighbors/families and garage sales help? Back to Coaching Back to Newsletters

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The Simple Interactions Tool provides a common, descriptive language to talk about interactions in practice. Coach's Column Amanda Gooch March 1, 2023 It was incredible seeing those of you who were able to join us at Childcare Resources’ most recent professional development day featuring Dr. Dana Winters from the Fred Rogers Institute. Dr. Winters introduced us to the Simple Interactions tool that helped us to notice and appreciate human interactions across developmental settings. For those of you that weren’t able to join us, our training focused exploring these simple interactions and the role they play in early childhood education. The Simple Interactions Tool provides a common, descriptive language to talk about interactions in practice. In utilizing the following tool we will gain a deeper understanding of the role of interactions in human development; identify ways that human interactions can be encouraged across all levels of a system; and apply the conceptual foundation of developmental relationships to the everyday practice of supporting the learning and growing of children, families, and colleagues. One of my favorite parts of the training was when we were given opportunities to reflect on various video clips of teacher-child interactions within our community. We used the Simple Interactions tool to think about the different settings within our own work environment. We reflected on the interactions within our own practice and created connections to which interactions we tend to see and which interactions we would like to see more in our classrooms. We also discussed resiliency and how supportive relationships and active skill-building in early childhood, strengthen the foundations of resilience. She showed us factors that contribute to and support resiliency. We enjoyed her in-depth discussions on research that shows the single most common finding on children who end up doing well, have had at least one stable and committed relationship with a supportive parent, caregiver or other adult. To learn more about Harvard’s Science of Resilience and why some children can thrive despite adversity, please click on this link . As your Early Childhood Education Coach I am here to help you focus on these simple interactions and work as a collaborative team to enhance your practice. We need to remind ourselves that what children need for learning is simple and deep. Together let’s explore in depth Fred Rogers’ six basic necessities of learning (PDF) . The Fred Rogers Institute has a 20 year history of looking for the helpers, respecting the unique and essential contributions they make to children’s lives, and supporting and uplifting their work. Informed and inspired by the legacy of Fred Rogers, the Helper Awards are an opportunity to honor and recognize the individuals who care for children in ordinary and extraordinary ways in their daily and professional lives. If you know of an early childhood “helper” in our community, would you consider nominating them for this incredible opportunity? I am so thankful to know so many “helpers” here in Indian River County. In our “neighborhood” there is evidence all around us as we elevate and promote the highest quality early childhood development and education. It’s an honor and a privilege to serve alongside you all. Wishing you the best, Amanda Back to Coaching Back to Newsletters

Let’s take some time to review the Conscious Discipline Brain Smart Start Coach's Column Amanda Gooch August 1, 2023 Welcome back to another incredible beginning to the school year. We are starting the year strong with Conscious Discipline. Conscious Discipline utilizes everyday events to cultivate emotional intelligence through a self-regulation program that integrates social-emotional learning and discipline. Let’s take some time to review the Conscious Discipline Brain Smart Start and what that structure looks like in the classroom. The Conscious Discipline Brain Smart Start of the day consists of four activities: An activity to UNITE, an activity to CONNECT, an activity to DISENGAGE stress and an activity to COMMIT. Conscious Discipline designed this combination of activities using current brain research in order to promote an optimal learning state. The Brain Smart Start should be conducted in the classroom daily. Let’s review these four components that make up the Brain Smart Start: 1. Unite: The activity to unite as a School Family involves everyone doing something together. It builds connection, fosters a sense of safety and releases endorphins. These activities can be combined, for example, a School Family chant involving music and movement with a partner would both unite and connect. 2. Disengage: The activity to disengage stress involves deep breathing and stretching. It prepares the brain for cortical learning and turns off the stress response. The four core calming activities used in Conscious Discipline to help disengage are S.T.A.R., Balloon, Pretzel and Drain. The calming activity S.T.A.R. stands for Smile, Take a deep breath And Relax. Taking three deep belly breaths helps to shut off the fight, flight, or freeze response in the body. 3. Connect: The activity to connect the students to the teacher and to each other helps to maintain focused attention and the motivation to learn. It also releases oxytocin, which promotes connection and reduces aggression. Eye contact, presence, touch and a playful setting are the four core components required to truly connect with others. I Love You Rituals are an effective way to incorporate connection in the classroom. Classrooms benefit from I Love You Rituals in routines like the Brain Smart Start, during circle time and after transitions. Teachers and individual students benefit from scheduling regular one-on-one I Love You Rituals with children call for help through difficult behaviors like aggression, tantrums or withdrawal. 4. Commit: The activity to commit oneself to learning involves affirmations and positive thinking. It produces serotonin, teaches responsibility, promotes mindful attention and develops the prefrontal lobe. Making commitments and following through on them builds self-esteem, neurologically bathing the body in feel-good chemicals. These chemicals help focus attention and achieve goals. Commitments help us shift from being unconsciously stimulus-driven to becoming consciously goal-oriented. Commitments can be individual, like having each child take a clothespin with his name on it and place it beside a class agreement. The class can make a group commitment with the teacher stating, “Today I’m going to use kind words with friends,” and the children would signal their commitment with a thumbs up. Provide a time at the end of the day to invite children to evaluate their commitments. The children respond with either, “I did it,” or, “Oops.” An Oops is an opportunity to try again tomorrow. Some children may have difficulty keeping their commitments. Check to see their commitments are specific, narrow in scope and realistic. Instead of, “Today I will be nice all day,” coach them to say, “Today at recess I will invite a friend to play with me.” A Brain Smart Start also offers opportunities to practice social skills. It also provides many chances to model acceptable behavior, reinforce, redirect, or remind. The investment returned on time spent with a Brain Smart Start is repaid many times over. This teaches a sense of belonging, as well as develops skills of listening, attention, expression and empathy. A Brain Smart Start sets the tone for the day. It is not an add on or something extra to make time for, but rather an integral part of the day's planning and curriculum. Wishing you the best, Amanda Back to Coaching Back to Newsletters

Take the time to set the culture in your classroom that empowers your children to self-regulate and to show empathy towards those who are struggling. Coach's Column Paulette Maggiacomo September 3, 2020 You did it, you completed the first week of the new school year while in the middle of a pandemic! You navigated CDC guidelines to keep your children, your classroom, your outdoor areas, and most importantly, yourself, healthy and safe. If there were moments of “oops”, I hope you allowed yourself the grace that you would give to others. Perfectionism during a pandemic is not the goal – helping children navigate during this time using their self-regulation skills should be your goal. Dayna Abraham was a presenter at the virtual conference Transforming Challenging Behavior 2020 . She stressed the importance of taking the time to set the culture in your classroom that empowers your children to self-regulate and to show empathy towards those who are struggling. The time you put into it now will make all of the difference down the road. In order for this to occur, there must be a sense of connection between you and the children, and the children with each other. An opportune time to build this connection is during your circle time each day where you could discuss struggles that might occur during the day. Dayna presented the following scenario: I know that we are all learning to share – pinpoint a struggle Sometimes that can make us really angry – identify the emotion What can we do when we start to feel that way – empowers the children to come up with ideas She front-loaded the class in order to prevent meltdowns and/or tantrums. Imagine the impact this can have on your classroom! Next, Dayna provided some wonderful insight illustrating to me that I had been going about handling this type of incident the wrong way. Let’s say that two or three children are having struggles at the same time in different parts of the classroom. Her suggestion is to go to the child who is in the least of their fight, flight, or freeze state. This is the child who is the least stressed and/or overwhelmed. Assist them first. Then go to the child who is struggling the most so you can put all of your calm, focus and attention on that child. You now have the ability to sit, breathe, and model for them. Often it is easy for us to jump to conclusions as to why a certain behavior is happening. I am sure there have been times when you have thought, “Oh, he/she is trying to push my buttons”, or “Here we go again”, or “I am getting really tired of this child’s behavior.” This is when we need to put on our detective hat to find out what is the root of this behavior. Dayna said that it is like peeling an onion one layer at a time. She suggested asking the “Four W’s”: Who, What, When, and Where . Also ask yourself if the child’s four basic needs are being met: Food, Sleep, Water, and Safety . By doing so you can gain insight and understanding as to the source of the behavior. By being Jessica Fletcher, Nancy Drew, or Veronica Mars you can be that person who empowers your children to learn how to self-regulate! Please remember that we can’t do this without you . Make it a priority to find time each day to do something just for you. As always, until next time, I wish you well, Paulette Back to Coaching Back to Newsletters