Meet SECAC Member Lori Gloyd-Rollison

Lori Gloyd-Rollison is the owner and director of Little People’s Christian Academy. Her dream as a child was to work in the field of education. She spent her professional career educating children in Saucier, MS, within the public school district. Eighteen years ago, she was allowed to advance in the K-12 school system as an administrator.  She was excited about the chance until she discovered that her children’s childcare center was closing. Facing the circumstance of her children’s center closing and the emotional toll that it had on her, she realized that she had to fill the void. Lori purchased the closed childcare center and opened it with ten children enrolled. Currently, Little People’s Christian Academy serves over 200 children ages six weeks to 12 years old.

When asked about the importance of childcare for families and children, Gloyd-Rollison says, “Childcare is important in a lot of aspects, but the two that come to mind are to help parents and educate kids. In our centers, we provide a place where parents can feel safe and secure and know their child is safe and secure so they can go to work. Also, childcare centers aren’t just babysitting children. We are educating them and preparing them for Kindergarten.” The fact that her former students invite her to their high school graduations and send her messages about their academic achievements underscores the role her center has played in children’s education.

When she thinks about what is most challenging about running a childcare program, she points to the tricky balance of finding a reasonable tuition rate for families so that they can afford care while also allowing a center to break even or make a profit.  This challenge is something she has helped centers on the Gulf Coast work together to solve as the President of Gulf Coast Childcare Director’s Network. After completing a tuition survey, the regional centers learned from one another and determined rates that better met their programs’ needs. 

She hopes to bring that same spirit of collaboration and communication to SECAC. “I’m hoping I can provide good communication with those doing the daily work in centers and those at the management levels and other policy levels. At the state level, I sometimes know they’ve been out of the trenches and may not remember how things are, and they need updates about what’s working, what we need to change, and what is difficult. I want to bring that to SECAC.”