Howdy! I’m Kelly Buckley, the KQRS Coach for CCCC Early Childhood Resource and Referral. I stepped into this field through the back door. I knew I wanted to connect with people to impact my world. Through my experiences in the early learning field I realized that working with children and those who care for them would have the greatest impact on our world and would be the best preventative measure for many of the psychological disorders I studied about in college. My educational background is in Psychology. I have a Bachelors of Science degree and graduate coursework in Psychology. My certifications include Parents As Teachers, Healthy Families America, Denver II, Early Communication Indicator, and Family Child Care Rating Scale.

But my practical experiences over the past 15 years in positions such as attendant care provider, early childhood instructor, family consultant, professional development specialist, infant-toddler specialist shaped my current passion for children and their caregivers. This has become my calling not just a profession.

There are so many reasons why Early Childhood matters to me. But personally, the number one reason is the gift I was given in 2006-- my son. While so many of us have felt the incredibly powerful love of parenthood. For many years my husband and I waited and hoped for a child of our own but with no result, and then we were given a truly miraculous gift. We were able to adopt a boy the day he was born. It has been the best experience of my life. I have learned so much from him and he challenges many of the theories I studied earlier. I (a prior confirmed city girl) now live on a farm South of Concordia with my husband and toddler experiencing many new first experiences which I’m sure will shape many of my future beliefs about early childhood.

I have seen and experienced firsthand the incredible impact we have on a child’s life in the earliest years. Through my personal experiences and work at Heartland Programs (Early Head Start & Heartland Child Care Partnerships) Cloud County Community College Early Childhood Resource and Referral and Kansas Quality Rating System I have seen children blossom. I’ve had the tremendous privilege to work with families and child care providers who overcame significant barriers to serve our most precious resources. Often with limited resources and even less recognition families and caregivers selflessly care for our future hope. Often people say you can see what matters to you by the time and money you spend on it. I hope someday people will look back and see that children matter to me and you.

I am excited about KQRS in particular because it is scientifically researched program which can transform the way in which early care and education programs engage in quality improvement. KQRS is based on the most current knowledge of best practices in our field. I strongly believe in KQRS’s strengths/relationship based coaching approach. As the coach I support programs, enrolled in KQRS, toward reaching their goals of quality improvement. Another tremendous benefit is the objective outside assessment of programs which is used to help providers set personalized goals. Getting involved in this program is a no-brainer!

I hope this gives you a snapshot of who I am, why I believe in the power of early learning experiences and why I think KQRS is the program to get involved in or support.

Click here for KQRS Information

Click here for a fact sheet about KQRS (Adobe Acrobat file)

Click here for Kelly's latest KQRS Newsletter (Adobe Acrobat file)