IHSA & Iowa EC-PBIS Early Childhood Spring Conference - April 15, 2026

April 15, 2026

Registration Deadline: April 9, 2026 – Training certificates provided for all participants.

• Happy, healthy, and joyful early educators make for happy, healthy, and joyful programs ! Educators and Staff will be uplifted! Erin will inspire and rejuvenate through stories, photos and tools based on six choices everyone can make to brighten up their life to brighten up the world. Her address is full of humor and offers realistic and relevant tools to help you go from depleted to self-considerate, afraid to courageous, stressed to joyful, judgmental to compassionate, exhausted to grateful and distracted to present.
  • Reflect on the possibilities for your life and your career
  • Recognize roadblocks that may be holding you back
  • Identify ways to claim your power
  

Erin Ramsey:

• From Nike World Headquarters to intimate retreats on her lavender farm, Erin inspires, brings hope and shares realistic
  ways for people to be more joyful at work and in their life. Erin has worked in the early childhood field for over thirty years
  as family child care provider, teacher, executive, trainer and community organizer. She is the author of Be Amazing: Tools for Living Inspired and Inspired Work: Showing Up & Shining Bright. She speaks for audiences throughout the country and internationally to inspire others for greater service. Erin has an undergraduate degree in Child Development and Psychology from California State University at Sacramento. She earned a Master of Science in Public Service Administration from the University of Evansville.

• This training supports early childhood educators and staff in translating the seven essential features of the Teaching and Guidance: Policies Essentials Checklist (TAG-PEC) into meaningful daily practice. Participants will strengthen their understanding of a relationship-centered approach to behavior guidance and learn how strong discipline policies come to life through effective routines, interactions, and learning environments. Through reflection, practical strategies, and case studies, educators will build skills to proactively teach social and emotional competencies, set clear and developmentally appropriate expectations, prevent and respond to challenging behaviors using trauma-informed and restorative approaches, and partner effectively with families—creating classrooms where all children can thrive.
  

Trainers:

• Sascha Longstreth, PhD
  Sascha Longstreth, PhD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Child and Family Development at San Diego State University and Co-Director of the Center for Excellence in Early Development (CEED). A former preschool teacher, she is co-author of Effective Discipline Policies and Developing and Implementing Effective Discipline Policies. Dr. Longstreth partners with local and state agencies as an early childhood mental health programmatic consultant, focusing on equitable, developmentally appropriate discipline policies and reducing exclusionary practices.
• Sarah Garrity, EdD
  Sarah Garrity, EdD, is the Senior Associate Dean for the College of Education at San Diego State University, a Professor in the Department of Child and Family Development, and Co-Director of the Center for Excellence in Early Development (CEED). She is co-author of Effective Discipline Policies and Developing and Implementing Effective Discipline Policies. A former Head Start teacher, administrator, and literacy coach, Dr. Garrity’s teaching and research focus on social-emotional development, language and literacy, and supporting the socio-cultural and linguistic strengths of the early childhood workforce.

Registration fees:

• $90 for 10 or more attendees
• $105 for 5-9 attendees
• $125 for 1-4 attendees

• 8:00am – 8:45am Registration – Coffee/Continental Breakfast
• 8:45am – 9:00am Welcome
• 9:00am – 10:15am | Keynote – Erin Ramsey - Energize Your Impact: Reclaim Your Joy!
• 10:15am – 10:30am | Break
• 10:30am – 11:30am | Keynote – Erin Ramsey
• 11:30am – 12:30pm | Lunch provided – IHSA Awards Luncheon in Ballroom
• 12:30pm – 1:30pm | EC-PBIS – From Policy to Practice: Building Supportive Early Childhood Classrooms & Environments Through Relationships and Routines – Part 1
• 1:45pm – 2:00pm | Break – Snack
• 2:00pm – 3:15pm |EC-PBIS – From Policy to Practice: Building Supportive Early Childhood Classrooms & Environments Through Relationships and Routines – Part 2
• 3:15pm – 3:30 – Closing/Raffle winner announcements

Fun early childhood t-shirts will be on hand for sale to take home in a variety of colors! Order from the online store (coming soon) and we can deliver them to you at the conference at no extra charge! Cash, credit cards, debit, apple pay and Venmo accepted on site.

If you would like to be invoiced and NOT pay with a credit or debit card please register at the IHSA website link HERE.

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Host or Publisher Iowa Head Start Association