Two preschools in Warren County – the Learning Lab Preschool at the Warren County Career Center and the South Lebanon Learning Center — have earned the state’s top rating.
“Research shows strong links between high quality preschool programs and long-term benefits for children and the communities in which they live. Positive early learning experiences contribute to later academic success by laying the foundations for social-emotional development, literacy and early math skills,” explained Lisa Cayard, director of Warren County Community Services Early Learning Centers, which includes the South Lebanon Learning Center.
Kendra Murphy, director of the Learning Lab Preschool, said this research and an emphasis on educating the whole child support a shift seen in daycare centers offering more educational opportunities for children as they prepare them for meeting state standards in kindergarten and beyond.
“For the community a five-star rating acknowledges centers and preschools that provide quality early learning and development programs that meet quality standards over and above the health and safety license requirements,” she said. For families “it is a validation to the dedicated staff in support of the preschoolers and families. We are providing multiple learning opportunities in an environment enriched with social emotional and cognitive learning.”
The preschool works in tandem with the WCCC early childhood program for high school juniors and seniors, providing a “working preschool lab for them to experience, engage and learn intentional teaching and learning practices,” Murphy said.
The Step Up to Quality program assigns ratings based on how schools and daycare centers teach age-appropriate skills in preparation for kindergarten. A rating of three stars or above is considered a quality program.
“There are many studies that will point out that the early years are the informative years. In group settings, preschoolers can engage in opportunities that will provide foundations in learning – peer engagement, self-help skills, motor building as well as cognitive skills. Providing a strong quality foundation allows the preschooler to transition into the more academic world with more fluidity and self-confidence, strong social emotional skills and problem solving. Quality child care will provide this foundation,” Murphy said.
WCCS operates centers in Lebanon, South Lebanon, Franklin and Carlisle. The South Lebanon center holds a five-star rating, and the other three sites all hold four-star ratings.
Cayard, who is the director over all four centers, said quality indicators for a preschool or daycare center include low teacher-child ratios, teachers with a degree in early childhood education, ongoing child assessment and intentional instruction strategies, family engagement and strong community partnerships.
“Our program is especially committed to providing a program of the highest possible quality because we serve primarily children from lower-income families through Head Start and Early Head Start,” she said. “We know that these children statistically will have more challenges in school, and that a high quality preschool experience has the greatest impact for these children. Our teachers assess children’s learning and development throughout the year to measure their progress in meeting school readiness goals, and our data shows that 95 percent of children leave our program with skills that meet or exceed widely held expectations for school readiness.”
With more than 8,000 centers across the state, only about 1,600 currently are rated by the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Nearly half of these have a rating of three or more stores with only about 70 earning the highest rating, including the South Lebanon Learning Center.
The WCCC Learning Lab is one of nearly 120 school-run programs rated by the Ohio Department of Education. All are rated three stars or above and more than 80 have the top five-star rating.
Although the Step Up To Quality currently is optional, by 2020 the state will require a rating for any center that receives any public funding – either directly or by having students subsidized by the state.
“Although the process is lengthy, it provides importance and draws attention to the need for quality early child hood programs,” Murphy said. “The SUTQ process provides validation that early childhood is a foundation that needs to be developed to support future education and growth.”
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