SC-Merri

One South Carolina director’s secret to simplifying communication

It’s no surprise that effective communication is one of the most important skills for a childcare director to have. Without it, your staff won’t know where to teach, parents at your center won’t know what’s going on with their kids and students won’t understand what’s expected of them inside center walls.

Thankfully, there are a number of tools that directors can use to help improve communication within their program — including our award-winning childcare management software — and keep everyone engaged and in the know.

We recently sat down with Merri, a director at St. Andrews Baptist Weekday Preschool, to discuss how LifeCubby has helped improve communication (and a number of other things) at her South Carolina center.

LifeCubby: How did you find out about LifeCubby?

Merri: I found out about LifeCubby after the previous software we were using was bought out by another company. I was looking for a new one when we received an email about LifeCubby. I liked the way it was set up so I decided to make the switch.

LifeCubby: What was it like getting your staff switched over to LifeCubby?

Merri: It was pretty easy. LifeCubby has a lot of help documents, so you can easily go to your subject and find [the answer to your question]. The same goes for parents. If parents ask how to make payments, I can send them a link they can click that will walk them through it. Once you get in LifeCubby and play around with it, it’s easy to figure out what you’re doing pretty quickly.

LifeCubby: How has LifeCubby helped improve life at your center?

Merri: It’s much better, especially with the Classroom App. [As a director], I also like having the dashboard so I can easily see [which students] are present instead of having to track down numbers from teachers. It’s especially helpful during COVID-19 to know where students are and when. That way, if there’s an outbreak, I can just pull up the student tracker and I’ve got who might have been exposed right there.

I feel like it’s improved the admin side of preschool, too. It’s easier than many other programs out there!

LifeCubby: Can you tell us a little more about how you’re using the Director’s Dashboard?

Merri: With the Director’s Dashboard, I can easily access major reports to help manage my program. I can also mass-text parents and send email blasts, which has made communicating with parents better. If we send out an email they really need to read, we can also send a text reminding them to check it. That way, they don’t have to say, “Oh, I didn’t see that email! I had no clue.”

LifeCubby: What features do your teachers enjoy most?

Merri: Our teachers love being able to communicate through the app. Prior to LifeCubby, parents couldn’t respond to any in-app messages sent by teachers. With LifeCubby, they can now respond and start a conversation in real time. Also, because teachers can now message [parents] in the app, they don’t have to give out their cell phone numbers — which is great for some of our staff.

Since we do drop-off and pick-up at the door because of COVID-19, being able to send pictures during the day to show parents what is going on is also great! I know the communication has been very appreciated by parents.

LifeCubby: How has LifeCubby affected tuition billing at your center?

Merri: Since we’ve switched, we’ve gotten even more online payments. We don’t really need to do check deposits anymore. Plus, the fact that parents can set up recurring payments has been nice since it’s automatic and they don’t need to worry about it. Before [LifeCubby], I would have to send out individual emails about payment. LifeCubby has made it so I can do everything at one time. It’s definitely been a good thing and helpful during the pandemic since parents can’t physically go into the center.

LifeCubby: How does LifeCubby compare to your previous software?

Merri: The last software was harder to use and we had a little more trouble with it as far as entering information during the day. It also didn’t have as much customization. Customizing things in LifeCubby is great! You’re able to add things like chicken nuggets and macaroni and cheese into the meal log feature if it’s not already an option.

Want to make communication at your center as easy as it is for Merri and her team? Click here to schedule a free LifeCubby demo today!