Marie Elaina Thurston Email and Phone Number

Dual role as program director for child care center and corporate compliance specialist for multi-state organization. Responsible for program operations, staff development, contractual compliance and meeting standards of oversight agencies. Consult for owners/directors for state specific rules/regs throughout the USA. Participated on team to develop a proprietary early childhood curriculum.

Childcare program operations, staff development, lead director for district, increased occupancy from 43% to 129% within two years, consistently exceeded scorecard parameters financial goals and staff/family engagement, taught coursework for district, participated in workgroups focused on quality applications, liaison for rules/regulations.

Education, curriculum and tutoring planning and development for grades K-5 at sites throughout Volusia County. Facilitate community partnerships, volunteer development, writing, editing and implementation of curriculum designed to enhance students performance on target goals. Conduct classroom activities to achieve maximum results based on student strengths. Conduct individualized sessions to assist at-risk students.Strategic planning for continued organization success.

Overview• Managed a variety of departments and programs within the agency during a five year span • Acted as Interim Executive Director during Executive Director maternity leave to oversee all agency operations• Liaison with local and state boards and councils associated with target populations and agency functions• Served as agency representative for the community, local and statewide meetings Quality Assurance • Ensured all components meet requirements for compliance, records, grants management and quality assurance • Conducted research of systems/processes, analysis of current systems/processes and development of future programs to improve overall function of the ELCFV• Analyzed and improved operations including the development of new procedures, policies and programs• Ensured state mandated plan outcomes consistently met through efficient approach• Identified and assisted with all grant writing programs and functions for continued fundingFamily & Early Childhood Program Services • Supervised all programs related to services to families, children and child care providers• Supervised the services related to eligibility, resource/referral, child development and family involvement • Developed systems improvement and community partner agreements for effective use of federal, state and local funding• Developed community partnerships to benefit participating clients• Coordinated referrals and communication between community partners and coalition staff• Developed participatory agreements with community partners to benefit all coalition clients• Implemented use of Parents as Teachers Curriculum™ • Researched and wrote articles for local parenting magazine• Supervised services related to provider services, quality assurance and mentoring• Analyzed and improved operations including the development of new procedures, policies and programs for timely assessment, mentoring and continued development of contracted child care providers

(Successful career progression, transitioned when Early Learning Coalition of Flagler and Volusia assumed services in-house)Family and Early Head Start Program Services• Assisted in multi-site supervision, monitoring, assessment of federally funded programs• Conducted family services evaluations for implementation of Early Head Start program • Coordinated the development and implementation of community and health partnerships• Conducted parent trainings and implemented staff development initiatives• Developed and tracked budgets for directly operated programs• Maintained all federal, state, local standards for operation of child care environments• Administered Parents as Teachers Curriculum™ philosophy and Montessori pedagogyProgram Accreditation, Training and Contracts Services• Assisted/led early education providers through accreditation/quality enhancement process by implementation of developmentally appropriate practices• Provided on site technical assistance such as specialized training, classroom assessments, and all components related to accreditation process• Researched, developed and conducted specialized opportunities to enhance overall quality• Conducted training on best practices for early care and education programs• Conducted workshops for center and family based providers, parents and community partners• Wrote grants for projects relating to quality enhancement/accreditation• Conduct yearly program assessments for compliance for contracted providers• Maintained provider contracts databases, ensured compliance to contracts, assisted providers