Director of preschool vs child care director

The differences between directors of preschool and child care directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a director of preschool and a child care director. Additionally, a director of preschool has an average salary of $45,132, which is higher than the $37,471 average annual salary of a child care director.

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

Director of preschool vs child care director overview

	Director Of Preschool	Child Care Director
Yearly salary	$45,132	$37,471
Hourly rate	$21.70	$18.01
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	10,275	79,105
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Average age	48	47
Years of experience	4	4

Director of preschool vs child care director salary

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

	Director Of Preschool	Child Care Director
Average salary	$45,132	$37,471
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $69,000	Between $24,000 And $57,000
Highest paying City	Oakland, CA	Easton, PA
Highest paying state	Alaska	Pennsylvania
Best paying company	KLA	Anthem
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between director of preschool and child care director education

There are a few differences between a director of preschool and a child care director in terms of educational background:

	Director Of Preschool	Child Care Director
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 56%
Most common major	Early Childhood Education	Early Childhood Education
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	University of Southern California

Director of preschool vs child care director demographics

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

	Director Of Preschool	Child Care Director
Average age	48	47
Gender ratio	Male, 5.2% Female, 94.8%	Male, 16.9% Female, 83.1%
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, 11.6% Unknown, 4.0% Hispanic or Latino, 13.7% Asian, 4.3% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage	17%	16%

Differences between director of preschool and child care 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.

Child care director example responsibilities.

Manage care for k-5 kids before and after school.
Establish cooperative relationship with state/regional USDA CACFP office.
Require to acquire CPR, first aid, a training.
Develop compliance and audit program for Medicare.
Certify medication & CPR, maintain portfolio for each student
Charge clients for daycare payments and merchandise using POS system.

Director of preschool vs child care director skills

Common director of preschool skills

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

Common child care director skills

Customer Service, 19%
Childhood, 10%
Critical Care, 9%
Child Development, 8%
Quality Care, 7%
CPR, 6%

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Director Of Preschool
Director Of Preschool vs Child Care Director

Updated January 8, 2025

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