As the staff prepare for the Winter Gala, things begin to go awry. While Kelly sets off with Hilary to save the concert, Casey and Eileen try to distract the parents, and the others struggle to keep all the children entertained.

Kelly is placed in the toddler classroom alone for the day. Eileen discovers that multiple infants have come down with hand-foot-and-mouth disease, alongside another surprise visit from licensing.

Eileen hires a new staff member, before bringing the school-age students on a field trip to the zoo. Kelly sees her absence as the perfect opportunity to play a staff game of “Capture the Flag.”

The state licensing department visits and Eileen asks Kelly to cover the duties of a director, as Pete mixes up the bottles of breast milk, and Hilary and Nicole find an ant infestation in their classroom.

Beginning the day with too many kids, Kelly is forced out of her classroom to work with her nemesis Veronica, leaving Hilary to babysit Pete. Eileen convinces Nicole to come to work despite having the flu.

Kelly arrives to work to find out that parent-teacher conferences are approaching sooner than expected, while Pete loses a student on the job, and Eileen pressures her daughter into taking over the business. ​

After being demoted in favor of the director's daughter, a burnt out preschool teacher battles against the headstrong director of a childcare center to regain control of her classroom or risk losing her job altogether.