McCormick Institute for Early Childhood

08/22/2026

⏰ Deadline extended!

You now have until August 26 to apply for Ready to Lead, our leadership academy for new early childhood center directors. Fall 2026 cohorts in Lisle, IL, & Bloomington, IL, offer 22 professional development hours, a peer network, and a real plan for leading with confidence.

Learn more and apply now through Wednesday, August 26, 2026: https://www.mccormickinstitute.nl.edu/ready-to-lead

08/21/2026

Join us in reflecting on the great times and informative sessions at Leadership Connections!

📸 Visit our online gallery of photos from the 2026 national conference: https://nationallouis.smugmug.com/McCormick-Center/Leadership-Conference-2026/i-4gsgFtr

Save the date for Leadership Connections 2027: May 19-21. We're heading back to the Renaissance Schaumburg (Schaumburg, IL) for another great event.

More information: https://www.mccormickinstitute.nl.edu/leadership-connections

08/19/2026

Applications for Ready to Lead are closing soon!

If you're a new early childhood director looking for confidence, community, and real leadership skills, now's the time to apply. We are offering Fall 2026 leadership academy cohorts in Lisle and Bloomington, IL.

✅ 22 PD contact hours
✅ Aligned with the Gateways Illinois Director Credential
✅ Just $175 for Illinois administrators

Apply before Friday, August 21: https://www.mccormickinstitute.nl.edu/ready-to-lead

08/18/2026

Family child care professionals: you already have the passion, experience, and commitment to children and families. Now, get the tools and support to strengthen your business.

Two upcoming leadership academy opportunities can help you take your next step:

Taking the Lead is a comprehensive leadership academy that supports family child care professionals in strengthening their business practices, enhancing program quality, and growing as confident leaders.
Applications for the 2026-2027 cohort based in Lisle, IL, are open through September 10, 2026.
🔗 https://buff.ly/fPgVV3r

Building Better Business is a focused leadership academy designed to help family child care professionals strengthen the foundation of their business operations.
The next 4-month virtual cohort serves Englewood and the surrounding Chicago communities. Apply now through August 28, 2026.
🔗 https://buff.ly/V3KoB5k

Pictured: Taking the Lead 11, our 2024-2025 cohort

08/17/2026

Leadership starts on the inside. 🌱

Mark your calendar for "Onward from the Inside Out: Leading with Clarity, Connection, & Courage," a free live webinar for early childhood leaders with author Ann Hentschel.

Wed, Aug 19, 2026
1:00–2:00 PM CT
Zoom webinar

Together, we'll dig into values clarification, deep listening, and distributed leadership.

All webinar participants will be entered in a drawing for one of 50 complimentary copies of the book "From the Inside Out: The Power of Reflection and Self Awareness," generously provided by Everbloom Learning.

Register today! https://nl.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wvWazmzeQqmbBtjHhF_qWQ #/registration

Full details: https://tockify.com/mccormick/detail/51/1787162400000

08/12/2026

This is what growth looks like!

Ready to Lead, our leadership academy for new early childhood directors, helped Devion lead with self-awareness and confidence.

Learn more about the Fall 2026 professional learning opportunity for recently-hired Illinois child care center directors. Cohorts are available in Lisle, IL, and Bloomington, IL: https://www.mccormickinstitute.nl.edu/ready-to-lead

08/12/2026

Makisha Binns, owner of Kiddos Care in Belleville, IL, credits two McCormick Institute leadership academies with helping her grow her family child care (FCC) business.

“Since completing BBB, I have updated a few of my marketing platforms such as Canva, Facebook, Instagram, and my Google Business Page,” she said.

She recently completed Building Better Business (BBB), the McCormick Institute’s fully virtual 4-session FCC leadership academy.

She had previously participated in Taking the Lead (TTL), the 9-month, 119-hour hybrid academy designed to build FCC business systems and leadership confidence.

Read her full story: https://buff.ly/4bxo0Jd

Learn more about our FCC leadership academies for Illinois leaders, Building Better Business and Taking the Lead: https://buff.ly/JKWjcKR

08/11/2026

In a profession built around caring for others, leaders often become so focused on responding to everyone's needs that they lose sight of themselves. Reflection begins to feel like a luxury. In truth, it is one of the most important leadership practices we have.

Read our latest article, written by Ann Hentschel: https://www.mccormickinstitute.nl.edu/what-kind-of-leader-do-you-want-to-be

Join us on Wednesday, August 19, from 1:00 - 2:00 pm CT, for a related free virtual webinar, "From the Inside Out: Leading with Clarity, Connection, and Courage."
Learn more and register now: https://tockify.com/mccormick/detail/51/1787162400000

08/07/2026

Before young children can regulate themselves, they need regulated adults—and the early childhood educators who care for them are stretched thin.

We're excited to share that Lindsay Miner, M.S., Report Review and Certification Specialist for the McCormick Institute, will be co-presenting, "Co-Regulation Strategies for Early Childhood Educators," an upcoming edWeb.net webinar!

She and Emily Grunt and Lisa Davis from the Center for the Collaborative Classroom will equip early childhood educators and leaders with both the research foundation and the practical tools to build regulation into their environments, routines, and relationships.

Learn more and register now for the September 23, 2026, webinar: https://home.edweb.net/webinar/earlychildhood20260923/

08/06/2026

⭐ Join our team! ⭐

We are hiring a Manager of Program Administration Scales to oversee the Program Administration Scale (PAS) and Business Administration Scale for Family Child Care (BAS) Certification and Reliability system, supporting the use of nationally recognized, research-based tools that define quality indicators for center-based and family child care administration.

Learn more and apply:

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