“At Apple Playschools we are committed to our mission and vision, and truly believe in our play-based and child-centered approach to education. Serving on the board offers an opportunity to support this approach and mission directly! Whether you are passionate about cultural inclusion, environmental stewardship, or the building blocks of a more equitable world, serving as a board member will allow you to realize these passions every day. In addition to giving back to the community, you will have plenty of opportunities to grow professionally including developing a sharp financial mind, expanding your team building abilities, improving fundraising and development expertise, and so much more.” -Pete Blank, Interim Board President

We are calling our board working groups habitats - like the sociocratic method of governance calls them circles - to emphasize that they are the spaces within which ideas and work can nurture, grow, and collaborate. We recognize that an ecosystem is only sustainable when habitats and the organisms that find their niches within them cover multiple functions, and when functions are covered by multiple doers. An apple tree loosens soil, filters air, softens rain, gathers water, houses birds and bugs, and provides food and climbing structures for our kids. In turn, it relies on the work of countless fungi, pollinators, nitrogen-fixers, and fertilizing animals. We welcome everyone in our community to find their niches within our organization! Please email our board at board@appleplayschools.org if you are interested in joining.

Family Engagement
The Family Engagement Habitat plays a crucial role in sustaining a sense of belonging within the organization: among families, between family and school, and between schools. By nurturing avenues for dialogue, spaces for gathering, and opportunities for appreciation, we can identify and support family, staff, and organizational needs. Through inclusive participation, families will feel that the extended Apple Playschools community is a partner in their parenting and educational journey: there to celebrate milestones and lift up through times of hardship, while affiliated with our programs and beyond.

Enrollment
The Enrollment Habitat is an essential space to ensure that our programs are fully enrolled from all parts of our local community. As a font of experiences and connections, the enrollment habitat reviews, develops, adopts, and implements marketing strategies to support staff on annual enrollment and ad hoc as spaces open. In collaboration with the Development and Scholarship Habitats, those in the Enrollment Habitat broadcast our mission and programs with the broader community to build engagement/interest and ensure that we are making equitable use of scholarship opportunities.

Development
The Development Habitat is a vital space for bringing our mission to our community and assisting Apple Playschools in securing reliable support for tuition assistance, programming, and infrastructure through annual and project-based fundraising and communications efforts. By engaging across the community, this group builds and maintains relationships to ensure broad participation and a fulfilling sense of shared responsibility. Through innovative strategies, we cultivate the vision that child care is essential economic infrastructure that drives equity, especially when it is empowered by the whole community: local, county, and state.

Please email our board if you are interested in joining.

Approximately 5 hours per month, including one 2-hour board meeting and committee work, emails, phone calls, and attendance at Apple Playschools events. This work may vary due to time of year or specific projects the board member undertakes. There is also an annual 8-hour board retreat during the summer months or two 4-hour board retreats per year (format is determined by current board members according to scheduling needs). Board meeting days/times are set each August and typically will fall on the same evening/week of month. In addition, board members are asked to do one site visit for each of our three school sites each fall, and are invited to come for “board hour” at an all-staff in-service meeting or event each year.

Board terms are two years. Officer terms are one year. Board members can serve up to six consecutive years at a time. Because there is about a 6-month learning curve for new board members to become acquainted with the full functioning of operations, it is crucial to the long term stability of the organization for board members to make a full two year commitment.

No. All board positions are 100% volunteer.

We strive to maintain a board of 9-11 members. Our maximum size is 13 board members with family representatives never comprising more than half of board membership.

2015

Yes! Our Strategic Plan includes major goals over a 5 year period and provides general direction for our decisions.

The Board oversees the governance of the organization, ensures the organization has the necessary resources to deliver its mission, and provides support to the Executive Director, including conducting the Executive Director's annual performance review. When at full capacity, Apple Playschools has approximately 120 families enrolled in total, approximately 45 employees, and an annual budget of $1.4-1.6M. Financial information, including our 990 tax returns and budget information can be found on the Apple Playschools Guidestar Profile.

As is best practice, we expect every board member to make a financial contribution to Apple Playschools at least annually. While we do not have a minimum contribution amount, we ask that a board members' contribution to our organization is one of their top three philanthropic gifts in a year. In addition, board members serve as essential ambassadors for our organization in the community and all board members actively participate in fulfilling our annual fundraising goals.

We expect board members to contribute Time, Talent, and Treasure. Many board members contribute heavily in one area and less in another. The Board Member Memorandum of Understanding is available below, and gives full details of specific expectations.

We are looking for board members with expertise in Business, Accounting/Finance, Law, Nonprofit Management, Fundraising and Development, Building and Property Development, and Commercial Real Estate. We are especially interested in board members who are bilingual in Spanish and English. Roles for board members include Executive Committee roles (President, Secretary, and Treasurer), committee chairs for Fundraising and Finance committees (and any others that are formed by the Board to meet organization needs), and members at large. The Board elects its own Executive Committee and committee chairs after each new board convenes in the Fall.

Like our organization, our board is highly collaborative, somewhat informal, and committed to equity, inclusion, feminism, and radical respect. We believe in play, gratitude, and lifelong learning. We practice honesty, fiercely advocate for our community, and wrestle with hard questions using our guiding principles and social justice branches as the frame and foundation of our work.