Meet Sandy and Nora from Santa Cruz, California

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We met Sandy Davie (on the left in the photo) and Nora Caruso (on the right) while writing the book The Five Elements of Collective Leadership.  They are Co-Directors of the Santa Cruz Toddler Center in Santa Cruz, California.  We were delighted to include some of their story in our book.
 
They invited me to come visit them during our telephone interview.  I was able to visit them in June, when I was in the bay area presenting at the National Association for the Education of the Young Child (NAEYC) Professional Learning Institute.

It was such a pleasure to meet them in person and get to see their center.  When I was interviewing them on the phone one of the things that struck me was how supported they said they felt.  They said it many times.  That is a rare thing to hear from anyone in a leadership position in any organization, let alone a child care center.  Directors often feel isolated and under-supported as a result of the mismatch between the challenges they face in providing high quality care, the low levels of support, and the historically low salaries of both teaching staff and administrators in early childhood programs.
 
Sandy and Nora believe strongly that the ability of their center to provide consistent high quality care -- is a result of their collective leadership. Benefits of their co-directorship:

• each one can focus on their skills and strengths while having back up;
• consistency in leadership -- Sandy has been there for over 25 years and Nora has been there for over 10; and
• consistency in teaching staff, with some teachers at the center for 10 years and more, as a result of the consistency of their leadership and the high quality support they provide to teachers.

All of this leads to their ability to consistently provide high quality education and care at the Santa Cruz Toddler Center.

Want to learn more about their center? Visit their Website their Facebook Page and Click Here to purchase  a copy of their book.