Little Sunshine's Shares the Key to Scaling Successfully
With 40+ locations nationwide, Little Sunshine's Playhouse relies on Playground to deliver consistent, reliable care across their network.
1
Scaling Safety Without Slowing Down
Company
Little Sunshine’s Playhouse is a national Reggio Emilia-inspired early learning provider, creating nurturing, play-based environments where children feel at home and are encouraged to explore, imagine, and learn.
Size
40+ Locations
Key features used
For Little Sunshine’s Playhouse, safety isn’t just a value—it’s a mandate. Every process, every decision, every tool is measured against one question: Will this help us keep children safe?
With 40+ schools across the country — some serving more than 140 children — ensuring every child is accounted for is a constant, high-stakes task. The team needed real-time visibility into where each child was, who they were with, and that the right teacher was in the right classroom.
“First and foremost, it’s about safety and security,” said Kayla Snodgrass, Systems Coordinator. “We need to know where kids are at all times, that they’re in the right places, with the right teachers.”
For years, paper logs and checklists tracked attendance, diaper changes, and daily activities. But paper doesn’t update in real time, and as the organization expanded, the cracks showed.
Their first attempt at software didn’t help. Their system was unreliable, added friction to daily routines, and created new inefficiencies. Growth was accelerating, and they needed something dependable, efficient, and scalable to support new locations without compromising safety.
2
A Single System for Every Daily Detail
That’s when Little Sunshine’s Playhouse turned to Playground. From day one, it became the operational backbone of their schools—streamlining everything from diaper changes and meal tracking to enrollment and parent communication.
“We use Playground for everything now. The enrollment process especially has been a game changer,” Kayla said. “It’s so simple and customizable. As soon as a family is marked as enrolled, we know all the steps have been followed.”
Beyond enrollment, Playground solved the multi-location setup challenge. Instead of building each new site from scratch, the team can duplicate settings, forms, and permissions in a few clicks. Each new school launches with a consistent, proven framework — then fine-tunes for local needs — making expansion faster and less error-prone.
Little Sunshines Playhouse turned to Playground to streamline every piece of their daily operations — from diaper changes and parent communication to registration and predictive enrollment.
3
Consistency That Scales Across State Lines
Operating in multiple states means balancing a consistent family experience with varying licensing rules and operational realities. Before Playground, every site found its own way of doing things, resulting in inconsistent processes, paperwork, and family communication.
Playground’s enterprise-level controls let HQ set organization-wide guardrails — like standardized enrollment packets, billing logic, and branding — while still allowing site-level flexibility where it’s needed. New schools join the organization with the same high-quality systems in place, ensuring families in any location experience the same level of organization, professionalism, and care.
4
Time Back, Trust Gained
With Playground, Little Sunshine’s Playhouse has reduced setup time for new locations, removed many of the administrative headaches that come with rapid growth, and strengthened relationships with families in a measurable way.
“We can update parents in real-time and make sure all families are getting an incredible experience”
That constant, transparent communication has shifted parent interactions from reactive to proactive — questions get answered before they need to be asked, and updates arrive before a parent has to wonder.
The result? Families feel more connected to what’s happening in the classroom and more confident in the care their children receive. That trust translates into loyalty and advocacy. Within a single week of rolling out Playground’s family-facing features across their network, Little Sunshine’s Playhouse received over 200 new 5-star reviews from parents praising the communication, professionalism, and visibility into their child’s day.
Leadership now has confidence that every location is compliant, aligned, and operating at the same high standard. Staff have tools that make their jobs easier, not harder. And families enjoy the peace of mind that comes from knowing their children are cared for in a program that’s organized, transparent, and consistently excellent—whether in their hometown or across the country.
Most importantly, Playground has given Little Sunshine’s Playhouse the ability to grow without sacrificing what matters most: safety, quality, and connection.
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