The Creative Kids Academy provides quality care using a premier substitute teacher program.
Creative Kids Academy is a privately owned early childhood education provider with ten centers throughout the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area. Capacity at each location ranges from 80 – 110 children.
To cover regular absences for its staff of 160+ full- and part-time teachers, they rely on a close partnership with Teachers On Call—a Kelly® Education company.
The challenge.
With its employee turnover rising, the organization was struggling at times to recruit and retain the caring and qualified early childhood educators it needed. Demand had steadily grown in the local market for qualified teachers, substitute teachers, and classroom aides. Yet like most metro areas, there are many alternative employment opportunities, making for a very difficult recruiting environment.
Over time it became especially hard to find and maintain a pool of dependable, compliant substitute teachers who were always prepared to serve across its 10 locations. Last-minute absences would often threaten to close classes. Client leaders needed a source for quality short- and long-term substitute talent to ensure continued enrollment ... and make the right choices when hiring for its long-term staff.
“In a tough job market, they have allowed us to find and request qualified substitute staff, 24 hours a day, using their online absence management system—streamlined to manage our multiple locations. Over the last 9 years we’ve partnered to fill long- and short- term roles, in addition to same-day last-minute positions.”
-Brandy Sroga-Coons, Executive Director
The solution.
Kelly Education, as TOC, first helped the company’s local centers to find talent in 2003. By 2010, the client was partnering for a more centralized, holistic substitute program that was shared across all its locations. As recruiting experts, the company finds the quality early childhood talent it needs. All candidates are screened, credentialed, and trained above and beyond state requirements—so its centers are never lacking for the right substitute talent. The substitute teacher program has minimized disruptions at the centers, despite the larger talent shortages in their crowded metro. Client leaders enjoy more flexibility to scale their talent supply based on center demand whenever it makes sense. Compliance is also ensured in a highly regulated market, through consistent service delivery across their various center locations.
The result.
Staff at Creative Kids Academy have been freed up to focus on enrolling students—and filling full-time teacher vacancies—because they have enough quality substitute teachers available to provide first-class service to their students. In the two most recent school years, Kelly Education has filled 1,435 and then 1,544 teacher absences across all 10 locations.
You need the best and brightest.
We can help solve your most complex talent challenges – both today and in the future – by delivering high–quality talent that moves education forward.
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