From Last-Minute Scrambles to 526 Shifts Filled: How Christ Church Preschool Found Stability with Tandem

Christ Church United Methodist Preschool & Childcare, located in Dayton, Ohio, serves a vibrant community of families with a focus on nurturing care and early education. Like many centers, they faced persistent challenges with last-minute staff call-offs and the need to shuffle teachers around to stay in ratio. Tandem offered a fast, flexible solution to help stabilize their classrooms—and it worked.

Before Tandem, the center had tried another staffing service, but the experience was frustrating. They never knew if a substitute would actually show up until the week of, which created more stress than support. Often, they had to pull teachers from one room to cover another, disrupting classroom consistency and staff morale.

“We had no idea if we had subs lined up in time or not. Otherwise, we just pulled from rooms to cover call-offs.”
– Abigail Ruddy, Director

With Tandem, the experience changed overnight. Abigail was able to request coverage even hours before a shift—and in most cases, those requests were filled. The platform’s real-time notifications, ease of access, and built-in compliance tracking made it a reliable daily tool.

“Very easily accessible on a PC or phone… You can request a sub within minutes and see in real time if someone accepts—and all their paperwork is right there.”

Since getting started, Christ Church has completed 526 shifts with over 50 different vetted Tandem workers. That consistent coverage helped the center navigate a tough stretch of short staffing and emerge stronger. Today, they’re operating at 90% staffing coverage daily—a major turnaround from where they began.

“Using Tandem helped our center get through a rough patch. Now we’re 90% fully staffed every day!”

Some Tandem workers have become reliable go-tos for the center, like Aaron, whose consistent presence and engagement stood out.

“Aaron was a great addition to our staff over the few days he was here. Very helpful, engaging with the children, and very friendly. We would love to have him back again. He is always willing to jump in and do whatever is needed for the children. We enjoy having Aaron work with us.”

Another favorite was a proactive team player who didn’t wait to be told what to do—she stepped up and kept the classroom running smoothly, even with little direction.

"One of our best Tandem workers came in, asked questions, jumped in and did what she knew needed to be done, even if the teachers were not leading her the best. She has been one of our best workers."

For Christ Church, Tandem has delivered flexibility, ease of use, and dependable support exactly when it’s needed. Whether filling last-minute absences or planning ahead, Abigail and her team now have the peace of mind that their classrooms will stay covered and their quality of care won’t be compromised.