Today we’d like to introduce you to Frances Ike.
Hi Frances, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Well, I come from a family of hardworking parents who migrated to the United States in the 1970’s as international students. Both of my parents completed their college education while raising a family and my drive comes from the values they instilled in me. I am a Christian, an educator, a wife and a mom of 3 boys who has a passion for positively impacting the lives of children. Besides what I do as my career, I also love to sing and have been singing since I was 3 years old! I am part of the worship team at my local church here in Frisco.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been ups and downs as with anything in life. My passion for Early Childhood Education was discovered halfway through college when I had a sudden light bulb moment which led me to change my major. I began taking early childhood courses and doing my field experiences at elementary schools. During this period of time, I realized how much I truly loved working with children and made a goal that at some point in my life I would like to own and direct a preschool. After I graduated from college as a State Certified Early Childhood Educator, I had the opportunity to work in both public and private schools and gained a lot of experience. Fast forward 10 years after graduation, my husband and I were looking for business opportunities and since I had a goal of owning a preschool, we started searching for existing preschool businesses. Our children were attending a Christian Preschool in Frisco at the time, and we loved the school, so we were hoping to be able to run a preschool similar to that one. While we were exploring several options, we had no idea that our children’s preschool owners were looking to retire and sell the school! Needless to say, when that opportunity presented itself, we believed it was God’s plan for us to take over the school ownership. It was such a unique opportunity because we already had a connection to the school as parents. My husband and I purchased Sunny Days Christian Preschool and I became the Director. It was truly a dream come true! I’ve been running the preschool since then and doing what I love the most; guiding and impacting the lives of young children. When Covid-19 hit in 2020, we lost a lot of teachers and students and had to close for a period of time which affected the business as a whole. Then we also were affected by the winter freeze in 2021, which caused flooding in our building. We had to pause operations for some months to reconstruct our building so practically all our families and staff were displaced. Just when we were ready to reopen, we were then faced with a staffing/hiring challenge at an unprecedented level. The staffing issue has improved but the effect still lingers. Although there have been many challenges, it has always been a blessing to do this work!
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
My goal is to continue providing quality childcare/early education for children in a loving, faith based environment- a place that feels like home. We are always improving our program quality/structure and are currently focused on working towards obtaining state & national accreditation.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I hope to see a deeper appreciation and higher value placed in early childhood education and teachers being paid what they are truly worth. Sustained government funding and support would be a great boost to the industry!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.
sunnydayschristianpreschool. com - Email: director@
sunnydayschristian.com
