8 Strategies to Start 2026 Positively as You Lead Your Early Childhood Program

Welcome😊🖍️

As we step into 2026, we have a chance to start fresh, not by doing more, but by being more intentional. This month is an opportunity to reconnect with our teams, refocus on our purpose, and set a positive tone in our classrooms. How we show up as leaders in January shapes our culture, strengthens our staff, supports children’s growth, and helps families feel confident in the care and learning experiences we provide. Small, thoughtful actions now create momentum that lasts all year.

Starting the Year Positively: Staff, Children, and Enrollment

The way we start the year impacts our classrooms, and families notice. When staff feel supported, engaged, and energized, classrooms become calmer, allowing children to thrive. Families experience this as well, which strengthens trust and increases enrollment.

Why Visual Reminders Matter

Having strategies, goals, and positive practices visible, both in staff spaces and classrooms, helps keep everyone focused and thinking forward. When teachers see prompts, charts, or displays of their intentions and classroom priorities, it reinforces consistency, encourages reflection, and makes abstract ideas tangible. Visual cues serve as daily reminders of shared values, emotional regulation strategies, and growth goals, helping staff model these practices for children and keeping the program culture aligned and intentional throughout the year.

8 intentional strategies to start the year positively:

1️⃣“What I’m Saying YES to in 2026”✅

🏫Staff: Reflect on one thing you will say yes to this year, asking for support, work-life balance, growth, or joy.
🚸Children: Create a classroom chart of positive actions or values, such as kindness, trying again, and helping friends.
🎯Impact: Shared values and optimism build a culture that families experience immediately during visits or tours.

2️⃣“What I’ll Improve in My Classroom & at Home”🏠

🏫Staff: Identify one professional and one personal growth goal for 2026.
🚸Children: Encourage simple goal setting, like learning to zip a coat or taking turns.
🎯Impact: Supports the whole child and the whole teacher, creating classrooms where families trust.

3️⃣Gratitude & Belonging☺️

🏫Staff: Recognize efforts, teamwork, and small wins from the previous year.
🚸Children: Use kindness trees, gratitude circles, or helping hands displays.
🎯Impact: Children who feel they belong talk positively about school at home, boosting family trust and referrals.

4️⃣Classroom Community Agreements📜

🏫Staff: Revisit the “why” of your program and leadership.
🚸Children: Collaboratively create classroom agreements for respect and care.
🎯Impact: Calm, intentional classrooms are highly valued by families.

5️⃣Classroom Reset🔄️

🏫Staff: Refresh learning centers, visuals, and routines.
🚸Children: Involve children in setting up centers and decorating spaces.
🎯Impact: Organized, welcoming classrooms feel intentional and impress families during tours.

6️⃣Highlight Children’s Voices🚸

🏫Staff: Document learning authentically, through pictures and children's work
🚸Children: Display artwork with captions or quotes about their favorite activities.
🎯Impact: Families see real learning in action, enhancing trust and enrollment.

7️⃣Celebrate Progress, Not Perfection📈

🏫Staff & 🚸Children: Recognize effort, growth, and small wins.
🎯Impact: Joyful classrooms retain staff and keep children engaged; all critical for family satisfaction.

8️⃣Emotional Literacy & Regulation🎭

🏫Staff: Provide tools for coaching children’s emotional skills and create space for teachers to self-regulate and reflect. Encourage practices such as mindfulness breaks, quiet reflection areas, or quick check-ins with colleagues to manage stress and maintain balance.
🚸Children: Use feelings charts, calm-down spaces, and books about emotions. Involve children in identifying strategies to calm down or manage big feelings.
🎯Impact: Programs that prioritize social-emotional development for both staff and children stand out to families. When teachers feel supported and able to manage their own emotions, classrooms feel calmer, children thrive, and family trust and enrollment grows.

January is more than a fresh calendar; it’s an opportunity to reset how people feel in our Early Childhood programs. When leaders start the year by listening, supporting, and reconnecting with staff, it creates a ripple effect. Teachers feel valued. Classrooms feel calmer and more intentional. Children feel safe and engaged. And families feel confident they’ve chosen the right place.

Retention and enrollment don’t happen by accident. They are built daily through relationships, culture, and the experiences happening inside each classroom. A positive start to the year is one of the most powerful tools we have to keep great teachers, support strong classrooms, and grow thriving programs.

Leadership Take Away: As you move through January, I encourage you to:

• Be intentional about how you open your staff meetings

• Create space for staff reflection, voice, and connection

• Support teachers in bringing positivity and purpose into their classrooms

• Notice and celebrate progress; big and small

The tone you set now will carry through the year. Start with care, clarity, and connection, and everything else will follow.

Till next time,

Jen Sprafka📋

P.S. Want to start your first Staff meeting off with a bang for 2026. I got you — here is an agenda outline from one of my staff meetings!