Prepare Your Child To Soar
Expert Leadership & Passionate Teachers
In A Loving, Nurturing Environment
Prepare Your Child To Soar
Expert Leadership & Passionate Teachers In A Loving, Nurturing Environment
About Little Leaders of KCK
Little Leaders is independently owned and operated by Christi Eaton and Kim Maples. They have been working in Early Childhood Education since 2006 with the vision to help every child in their care not just be ready for kindergarten but ready to shine.
Christi Eaton serves as our Executive Director and has been in the education profession for 23 years, working with preschool children and school-age children through fifth grade. Christi graduated from the University of Missouri in 1998 with a dual degree in Elementary Education and Early Childhood Education. She also holds a Master’s Degree in Teaching and Leadership, a Reading Specialist Certification, and received her National Board Certification in 2006. Christi is also a Professional Development Specialist, which allows her to positively influence the next generation of Early Childhood educators at Little Leaders as they work to obtain their CDA.
Kim Maples and Christi Eaton
Kim Maples serves as our Executive Operating Director and has been in education for 27 years, teaching preschool through fifth grade. She graduated from the University of Kansas in 1993 with a degree in elementary education and completed the teacher certification program in 1994. Kim has a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction and received her Reading Specialist Certification from KU in 2000. Kim is currently completing coursework to obtain an additional degree in Early Childhood Education.
Christi and Kim were Reading Specialists together at Starside Elementary in De Soto, Kansas, and enjoyed helping students who were struggling to improve as readers. Through this experience, they learned what early skills children need before beginning kindergarten. They love teaching preschool and providing ongoing training for their staff to ensure they continue to deliver developmentally appropriate experiences that will prepare the kids in their care for a successful start in elementary school.
A Bright Future Awaits Your Little Leader. See It Through Our Eyes:
Our Vision
Through personal accountability, we will provide uncompromising quality in the care and education of every little leader.
Our Mission
Through a collaborative effort between Little Leaders of KCK and parents, we will build a solid foundation on which children can develop cognitively, socially, emotionally, and physically while feeling secure in a safe, nurturing, and exciting environment under the guidance of a staff who is professional, positive and passionate about the care and education of young children.
A Dedicated Team Loves And Nurtures Your Child
Our caring, committed owners, directors, and teachers work together to ensure your child is ready for the future. All staff members undergo continuous training to stay at the forefront of early childhood education and deliver the best possible learning experiences.
A Curriculum That Builds Lifelong Lovers Of Learning
Children learn best through fun. A unique program emphasizes literacy development and math foundations, incorporates science, social studies, art, and music, and builds social-emotional skills through engaging activities that ignite your child’s natural love of learning.
Parent Involvement Builds Community
Children soar with family support. Feel welcome and included with lots of chances to get involved in your child’s learning. Join us for curriculum nights, parent-teacher conferences, and annual family-fun festivals throughout the year.
Strong Core Values Guide All We Do:
We are dependable, respectful, and always learning. We know the work we do is important, and we take it seriously, although we don’t take ourselves too seriously, and we still have fun doing work that matters.
We are optimistic, supportive, and cheerful. We lift each other on difficult days, and we seek solutions to challenges.
We are dedicated, enthusiastic, creative, and committed to helping every child succeed.
We model the Golden Rule for our children and team.
We always do our best, and when mistakes happen, we learn from them.
Our Core Beliefs Bring Our Passion To Life:
- We believe that teachers are responsible for providing opportunities and tools for supporting student self-esteem and that every attempt should be made to respect the dignity of both the student and the adult.
- We believe that students should do most of the thinking and should be allowed to make decisions and live with the results, whether the consequences are good or bad.
- We believe that students should be guided and expected to solve the problems they create without making problems for anyone else.
- We believe that misbehavior should be viewed as an opportunity for learning for all involved.
- We believe that misbehavior should be handled with natural consequences instead of punishments whenever possible. Consequences should be reevaluated for repeated misbehavior.
- We believe that there should be a logical connection between misbehavior and resulting consequences and that students should have the opportunity to tell their side of the story when consequences appear to be unfair.
FAQs
From 7:00 am to 6:00 pm, Monday to Friday. We understand that there may be times when being late is unavoidable; in these situations, please give us a courtesy call. If early drop-offs and late pick-ups become a consistent problem, we will reserve the right to implement a late fee of $1 per minute.
Our program is built on a full-day model, with half of the day focused on early academics and half of the day focused on arts/crafts, science/social studies, and music/movement. Enrolling children all day ensures our students benefit from the full program.
We offer a year-round program, operating an academic school year from mid-August to the end of May and a summer session from June to mid-August. These two sessions allow us to transition children to new classrooms in June and August as our older children graduate and go to kindergarten.
Little Leaders is currently licensed to provide care for 80 children at one time.
Waddlers: 1 – 2 Years
Toddlers: 2-3 Years
Transitional Preschool: 2 ½ – 4 Years
Preschool: 3-4 Years
Pre-K: 4-5 Years
Purple Diamonds 1:5
Yellow Stars 1:7
Red Hearts 2:20
Green Circles (Preschool): 2:21
Blue Rectangles (Pre-k): 2:21
Our family activities include an annual Carnival, Fall Fest with Trunk or Treat, Storyteller Night, and a children’s music concert during Week of the Young Child.
- Restricted access controls ensure that only authorized people have access to the center.
- Campus police keep everyone on-site safe.
- A fenced-in yard protects outdoor play.
- Internal-use security cameras keep watch.
- All teachers hold CPR certifications.
- Staff members thoroughly sanitize all areas every day.
- On-site cleaners carry out a deep clean every day.
- Professional cleaners come every week to implement rigorous sanitization.
Corporal punishment will not be used at Little Leaders; a private meeting with parents will be requested if a child’s behavior is continuously inappropriate or dangerous. Parents are encouraged to schedule a time to meet if there is ever a concern about behavior or any other issue at Little Leaders.
We provide breakfast and one snack in the morning, and one snack in the afternoon. A delicious and nutritious lunch is served at 11:15 for our younger children and 11:40 for our older children. Because of allergies and the potential for severe allergic reactions, if food is shared, we ask that children not bring their food for breakfast, snacks, or lunches. Accommodations will be made for children who, due to medical reasons with a doctor’s diagnosis, need to bring their food.
We enjoy celebrating birthdays at Little Leaders and know that it is an extraordinary time for the children. Birthday celebrations will be kept short and will occur during snack time to not disrupt the routine. Parents are welcome to send birthday treats such as cookies or cupcakes to share with the class; however, we ask parents not to send goodie bags with toys. These types of toys often get lost during the day, which can cause hurt feelings. If sending treats, we ask that you not send hard candy, popcorn, or items containing peanuts or peanut butter.
Birthday Invitations: You are welcome to pass out invitations at school if you plan to invite the whole class. However, if you are not inviting everyone, we ask that you use the Little Leaders’ Directory for contact information and share the invitations outside of class.
