Žluté jablíčko is a bilingual kindergarten in the Czech Republic providing early childhood education in both Czech and English. Parents choose the school not only for its educational program but also for the supportive and attentive environment the team creates for the children.
In a kindergarten setting, attention and presence matter. Teachers need to be with the children - guiding activities, supporting development, and creating a safe environment. Administrative interruptions such as being pulled away from the children to support a colleague on a 2nd language call can easily disrupt this balance.
As the kindergarten grew and more international families showed interest, the team faced a familiar operational challenge: how to remain responsive to parents without constantly interrupting the work happening in the classroom.
When communication interrupts care
Like many small educational institutions, Žluté jablíčko relied on teaching staff to manage incoming communications. No large multi language admin team.
Parents regularly contacted the kindergarten to ask about:
- enrollment availability
- pricing and programs
- visiting appointments
- opening hours
- daily routines and logistics
These questions were important for parents making decisions about their children’s care. But answering them repeatedly required time and attention that teachers would rather dedicate to the children.
Language added an additional layer of complexity. As a bilingual kindergarten, many parents communicate in English, while not every staff member feels equally comfortable handling phone calls in English.
This created friction at the point of first contact. Calls sometimes required translation help from colleagues, and staff were frequently interrupted while supervising children.
The kindergarten needed a way to ensure that parents could always reach someone who could answer their questions clearly - in either language - without requiring the teaching staff to constantly step away from the classroom.
Why Žluté jablíčko chose Elba
Žluté jablíčko introduced Elba as both a website chatbot and a telephone assistant, creating a reliable first point of contact for parents.
Elba takes responsibility for handling the execution-heavy part of everyday communication: answering routine questions, collecting information from parents, and helping schedule visits.
Parents can interact with Elba directly on the website or by phone. From the start of each interaction, Elba responds conversationally, understands the parent’s request, and provides relevant information about the kindergarten’s programs and enrollment process.
Because Elba communicates fluently in both Czech and English and many other languages, parents can speak naturally in the language they prefer. This removes the pressure from staff who might otherwise need to manage conversations outside their strongest language.
“Having Elba on our team is like having an always available, cheerful assistant who handles all our calls and requests for us.”
— Mgr. Alena Kadlecová, Founder and Director
Unlike traditional automated systems, Elba does not rely on rigid scripts. She can guide parents through questions, clarify information when needed, and capture the relevant details for the team.
“The team at Kolsetu did a fantastic job setting up Elba to fit perfectly into our daily work. We currently only need Czech and English, but we can easily add more languages whenever needed. The ease of use is fantastic.”
— Mgr. Alena Kadlecová, Founder and Director
What changed in practice
With Elba handling first contact, everyday communication at the kindergarten became far more predictable.
Parents visiting the website receive immediate answers to common questions and can quickly arrange a visit or request more information. Phone calls are answered even when staff are busy with children and out of normal office hours.
Requests, notes, and appointment inquiries are captured and passed on to the team in a clear and structured way.
This means that staff no longer need to interrupt classroom activities to respond to repetitive administrative questions.
When the team engages directly with parents, they do so with the necessary context already available.
Why this matters
In early childhood education, attention is the most valuable resource.
By stabilising the point of first contact, Žluté jablíčko ensures that parents receive fast and professional responses while teachers remain focused on the children.
“Being available to parents 24/7 has been a game changer for us. With Elba, we can offer this level of service without needing to hire additional staff.”
— Mgr. Alena Kadlecová, Founder and Director
Elba acts as a digital front desk for the kindergarten, managing routine communication so the staff can focus on what they love most - caring for and educating the children.
Use cases validated in this deployment
- Parent inquiries and FAQ handling
- Appointment and visit scheduling
- Multilingual communication (Czech / English)
- Administrative note taking and information capture
- Website chat support
- Telephone assistant for incoming calls
Yves-Philipp Rentsch