Director of preschool vs assistant director

The differences between directors of preschool and assistant directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a director of preschool, becoming an assistant director takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, an assistant director has an average salary of $63,063, which is higher than the $45,132 average annual salary of a director of preschool.

The top three skills for a director of preschool include childhood, professional development and curriculum development. The most important skills for an assistant director are customer service, CPR, and child care.

Director of preschool vs assistant director overview

	Director Of Preschool	Assistant Director
Yearly salary	$45,132	$63,063
Hourly rate	$21.70	$30.32
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	10,275	25,087
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	48	40
Years of experience	4	6

Director of preschool vs assistant director salary

Directors of preschool and assistant directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Director Of Preschool	Assistant Director
Average salary	$45,132	$63,063
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $69,000	Between $37,000 And $105,000
Highest paying City	Oakland, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	Alaska	California
Best paying company	KLA	Mayer Brown
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between director of preschool and assistant director education

There are a few differences between a director of preschool and an assistant director in terms of educational background:

	Director Of Preschool	Assistant Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Early Childhood Education	Business
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Stanford University

Director of preschool vs assistant director demographics

Here are the differences between directors of preschool' and assistant directors' demographics:

	Director Of Preschool	Assistant Director
Average age	48	40
Gender ratio	Male, 5.2% Female, 94.8%	Male, 38.3% Female, 61.7%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 3.6% Hispanic or Latino, 10.1% Asian, 2.7% White, 76.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 7.9% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 14.5% Asian, 6.4% White, 65.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	17%	14%

Differences between director of preschool and assistant director duties and responsibilities

Director of preschool example responsibilities.

Direct and manage every aspect of an extremely successful preschool, including enrollment, tuition, payroll, and all budgets.
Create and maintain a budget, this include tuition fees, payroll, insurances, supplies, etc.
Develop a staff of 15 through ongoing coaching, and training into a team of skil early childhood teachers.
Hire and train quality early childhood educators.
Establish continuous improvement processes which include leadership flow chart, monthly meetings which combine teaching and process analysis.
Handle administrative responsibilities and policy development, keep volunteer records and develop a vision manual and serve on leadership team.

Assistant director example responsibilities.

Manage purchasing, A/P, A/R and budget management.
Manage care for k-5 kids before and after school.
Establish and develop relationships with ERP and consulting vendors with the goal of maximizing comparative advantage and cost efficient solution development.
Manage delivery of quality early childhood education programs by establishing an environment of learning and maintaining the integrity of the programs.
Coordinate new student Facebook group and create twitter handle to increase applicant and prospective student awareness for admissions news and events.
Direct oversight of airport security programs and operations and responsible for business management functions including human resources, finance and procurement.

Director of preschool vs assistant director skills

Common director of preschool skills

Childhood, 13%
Professional Development, 12%
Curriculum Development, 11%
Staff Supervision, 7%
Classroom Management, 6%
Payroll, 5%

Common assistant director skills

Customer Service, 15%
CPR, 7%
Child Care, 7%
Oversight, 7%
Payroll, 6%
Alumni, 5%

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Director Of Preschool
Director Of Preschool vs Assistant Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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