How to improve documentation and save time: Tavistock Little Preschool’s journey with Lillio

With documentation, we were always so limited just because of time. Now with HiMama, when I see the comments from the parents I think – I am so glad we did this

- Sadie Harrett

The Challenge

Finding a way to increase parent communication with a closed-door policy during COVID.  

Tavistock Little Preschool has been operating in the Tavistock community since 1981, and has become a beloved community staple. Sadie May Harrett is the current director of Tavistock Little Preschool. Once a preschooler at the center herself, she is now working alongside her past preschool educator, delighted to carry on the tradition.

Tavistock Little Preschool had been operating the same way for decades – until Sadie became Director and changes were made to align with the current preferred way of communication – technology. When COVID-19 forced an extended closure, just a few short months after Sadie became the center’s new director, she realized she and her staff needed tools to provide more to the families during this challenging time.

With increased regulations, parents could no longer enter the center and she wanted to make sure she could still provide transparency and a sense of security for her families as they dropped their children off outside. Since Sadie manages the door during drop-off and pick up, she said “for the last year the parents have not seen the teachers”. 

She was eager to provide a way for educators to maintain close connections with the families.

The Solution

Using HiMama to create accessible and instant documentation

After some searching, Sadie settled on HiMama as the tool to provide the connection she was looking for. Once the app was implemented, Sadie was amazed at the phenomenal responses from her staff and her parents.

The educators feel more seen and the parents have said they feel more secure seeing who is engaging with their children

- Sadie Harrett

Sadie and her educators quickly developed a routine where they would dedicate school time to being present with the children and taking photos of their observations. They would then use the end of the day to share photos and updates with the families.

HiMama has afforded us the flexibility to provide documentation and show parents what we are doing in our program, but on the schedule that works best based on our needs.

- Sadie Harrett

Before HiMama, everything was pen and paper at Tavistock Little Preschool. Staff were consistently capturing photos and observations, but sometimes this information would not be shared with parents until weeks later. They would often print photos to share the children’s learning, but as they are a small community they would have to dedicate a staff member to drive over to the next town to get the photos printed. With HiMama, Sadie explained, the center now has tons of documentation going out on a daily and weekly basis so parents can see in real-time what is happening.

The Result

More communication going out to families in less time than ever before.  

Sending documentation now takes Sadie and her staff roughly 1 hour each day, which according to Sadie “is nothing to us.” Ultimately, Sadie has been able to increase the documentation and communication going out to parents on a daily basis, while her staff spend the precious time in their day being present with the children.

Sadie admits, “it was a little bit of a learning curve, but now that we have adapted, we have adapted so well.”

Over a short period of time, Tavistock Little Preschool has built a new way of operating — one they can’t live without. As COVID-19 regulations will start to ease up in their community, Sadie said, “Keeping HiMama is a no-brainer. I could not see our program without HiMama.”

Beyond the resilience that Sadie and her staff demonstrated to overcome the challenges that COVID-19 brought, Sadie values HiMama not only as a tool for documentation and parent communication but also as a resource that helps her staff feel valued and recognized for all their hard work. On top of this, Sadie has had parents thank her for implementing HiMama, not only for the communication but also for the conversations it is bringing into their homes at the end of the day.

It has really opened up conversation opportunities for us as parents who are not able to come into the center and see them engaging with children or see them playing

- Sadie Harrett

Tavistock Little Preschool is one of many HiMama customers who have saved their staff time and improved their parent experience!

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