Toshina “Sheena” Thames was no stranger to operating a child care center in 2016 when she purchased the first of two Mesa centers within about a year of each other.
She was new, however, to First Things First (FTF) and its Quality First program, which partners with child care and preschool providers to improve the quality of early learning and development across Arizona. The goal of Quality First is to benefit Arizona’s youngest residents by offering on-going support to those who—like Thames—are committed to the healthy development and learning of Arizona’s youngest children.
Thames grew up in Illinois, where her house was the magnet for neighborhood kids. Everyone knew they could come over for a snack or to play.
“We ‘did’ for them,” she said. “I gained an appreciation of being there for children from that example.”
Passion for helping children
As an adult, she channeled her passion for helping children into a bachelor’s degree in early childhood education and opened an in-home child care center with the help of two assistants. Her inaugural small business included separate quarters—one floor for infants and preschoolers and a second level for school-age kids.
“I started to notice that kids were reaching milestones at about the same age,” she said.
A powerful desire to understand these childhood stages led her to expand her undergraduate program to include an approval to teach special education.
“I wanted to provide the best care possible for every child,” she said.
Thames soon earned her master’s degree in early childhood education administration.
“If I hadn’t learned through trial and error in Chicago while earning my master’s, I wouldn’t be as knowledgeable,” she said. “It all works together.”
Thames said she was grateful to have earned a bachelor’s and master’s degree before jumping in hands-on. And what her college education didn’t teach—mostly the business side of things—she learned on the job.
“In Chicago, we really didn’t have a program like Quality First to help us,” she said.
At first, Thames maintained her child care center in Illinois after purchasing her first center in Arizona. Being an off-site owner in both locations allowed her to split her time between the two. She gradually spent more time in Arizona before relocating full-time between late 2017 and early 2018.
Benefits of Quality First
If Thames had begun her early childhood journey in Arizona, her start might have gone more smoothly, she said.
The Mesa facilities, both named Beautiful Oasis, were enrolled in Quality First when she purchased them, Thames said. She was happy to learn of the benefits of being enrolled in the program.
“If you need help, they provide coaching each month,” Thames said.
Quality First coaching is tailored to each classroom instructor based on an initial evaluation, Thames said. Each teacher’s professional skills are assessed on a scale. For example, an assessment might include how long students wait in line to participate in a variety of child-led activity centers or whether the teacher addresses multicultural needs and whether they maintain a classroom atmosphere conducive to learning for all.
Quality First also provides coaching for business owners on industry-specific topics, such as marketing, accounting methods and even procedures to streamline processes such as daily check-in and check-out for parents. Making wiser hiring choices based on the ability to delegate to well-rounded employees is one takeaway, Thames said.
When hiring directors and assistant directors, she now includes candidates with backgrounds in business management.
“If both candidates have (an early childhood education) degree, who’s doing the business side?” Thames said. “Initially, I wanted everyone to have child care experience. But then they have no business experience. It needs to be a balance.”
This has been key to allowing Thames to rely on her staff for day-to-day tasks.
On-boarding new teachers
There’s also Quality First training available to onboard new teachers or provide professional development for those on staff. Many times, a new employee without an early childhood background requires help to understand what quality early learning means. Lack of proper training in early childhood sometimes creates an immediate gap in the content knowledge, which in turn frustrates the new employee and may cause them to quickly leave the job.
Employees sometimes feel that you’re nit-picking when providing feedback, Thames said. “When a stranger comes in and their recommendations are similar or the same, it backs it up,” she said. “They realize what you’re asking of them is the correct thing to do. It puts some authority behind it.”
So far, things are on track for Thames’ sites, which both have 4-star ratings based on a 5-star scale.
“When you need help, they do an assessment,” Thames said. “They begin with a mock assessment and go over things needed to get a higher score.”
Expectations for star ratings are outlined for providers in a book with standards for everything from communication between teachers to how often children have access to screen time and what’s appropriate when facilitating playtime outside.
Quality First scholarships
Providers rated 3-star and above are eligible for Quality First Scholarships and can offer a limited number of scholarships to attend quality early care and education programs and are available based on income eligibility.
“Parents know it pays for their tuition,” she said. “More likely than not, they don’t even know all that the program does for the center.”
Last year, Thames was able to offer 21 scholarships to families from one of her centers. This year she was able to offer four at one and five at the other.
As the federal child care stabilization grants ended in June 2024, First Things First decided to continue paying increased scholarship reimbursement rates to better match what it costs to provide quality child care. This resulted in the number of Quality First scholarships across Arizona decreasing by almost half.
“I had to tell 16 families they are no longer a part of the scholarship,” Thames said.
Finding ways to recapture that funding to keep kids enrolled is essential to success.
“The first thing is we have to have the children,” Thames said. “They have to be in the classrooms and the teachers must provide the resources, the education, the empathy, the sympathy and the nurturing. That’s like the core piece because that’s what it’s about.”
