Southern Oregon Head Start Saves $6K/mo with Playground
We interviewed Kaycee Cottone, the IS/ERSEA Director, to learn how they use Playground Paperwork to save the equivalent of two full-time employee salaries
1
When Manual Data Collection Becomes a Full-Time Job
Company
Southern Oregon Head Start is a nonprofit early childhood education program serving low-income families across southern Oregon, providing free preschool, childcare, and family support services to help children thrive.
Size
27 Locations
Key features used
Manual data collection was not sustainable
Since 1967, Southern Oregon Head Start has provided free preschool and childcare to families across the region, growing to 27 centers and serving nearly 1,100 children. With each new family enrolled came more data to track — attendance, absences, daily notes — most of it still recorded by hand.
For ERSEA Director Kaycee, this meant an enormous administrative burden. Her team was collectively spending 150 hours every week manually recording and transmitting attendance data.
“We’re very, very data-driven, but the process was draining back office resources and taking time away from children and families.”
It was clear the system wasn’t sustainable. To continue delivering high-quality care while staying on top of compliance, they needed a tool that could collect and organize data instantly — without disrupting day-to-day operations.
2
A Seamless Switch to Digital Attendance and Forms
Southern Oregon Head Start evaluated more than 30 solutions before finding one that met their high standards for accuracy, speed, and ease of adoption: Playground. The priority was clear: implementation had to work seamlessly from day one.
Playground provided customizable check-in for families on center devices, allowing parents to leave drop-off notes digitally instead of on paper.
The transition was immediate. Manual attendance sheets disappeared overnight, replaced by a smooth digital process that staff and families embraced.
Kaycee’s team also gained real-time visibility into absences, dramatically reducing the gap between a child being marked absent and the family being contacted. Enterprise-level reporting made it possible to run attendance percentage reports across all 27 sites for any date range, with custom-built metrics that matched Kaycee’s requirements.
In addition, Playground consolidated forms and paperwork into the same system, replacing their standalone digital form tool. Kaycee could now assign roles and permissions to over 300 staff members, ensuring everyone had the right level of access to the data they needed.
3
From Hours Lost to Instant Insight
The difference was felt immediately across the organization. Instead of staff spending hours each day on manual data entry, attendance was automatically synced and available in real time. That freed up hundreds of hours each month—time that could be redirected toward family engagement and program quality.
With Playground, Kaycee could monitor trends at a glance and provide accurate, timely reports for compliance and internal planning. The team could finally operate with the speed and precision that matched their data-driven philosophy.
4
$6,000+ Monthly Savings and a Stronger Program
The impact wasn’t just operational—it was financial.
“We’ve probably saved the equivalent of two full-time employee salaries by automating and streamlining our manual processes"
That’s over $6,000 in savings every month that could be reinvested into the program.
By consolidating attendance, paperwork, and reporting into a single platform, Southern Oregon Head Start has positioned itself as one of the most efficient and forward-thinking Head Start programs in the country. Staff now spend less time buried in paperwork and more time supporting the children and families who need them most.
Start making your families and staff happier
Say goodbye to juggling several platforms and streamline operations with Playground
