Regional preschools rank high in new statewide system

The number of area child-care programs that are part of a new statewide effort to improve and score early-learning centers is expected to increase tenfold over the next two years.

Three Lynchburg programs and one in Appomattox are among the first in the state to be rated by the Virginia Star Quality Initiative, a voluntary program of Virginia’s Office of Early Childhood Development and the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation.

“It’s an accountability system, so when parents are trying to choose an early-childhood program for their children, they will know that all the programs that have been involved through this rating system, that they’re all doing the same kinds of things,” said Gayle Lucado, coordinator of Smart Beginnings, Central Virginia.

Rivermont Avenue Baptist Church Early Learning Center and Randolph College Nursery School in Lynchburg were rated four out of five stars. Mary Bethune Academy scored three stars. Appomattox County Preschool also scored three stars.

Four stars was the highest rating of any program in the commonwealth this year, according to the Star Quality database, which has scores for more than 125 programs statewide posted online so far.

Holly Layne, director of Randolph College Nursery School, said the initiative is heavily weighted toward improving interactions between adults and children.

“We need to get people away from thinking of us as babysitters,” Layne said.

Lucado said it’s important for programs to engage children in a thoughtful, interactive way that promotes brain development. The implication, she said, is that good early-learning programs produce more productive citizens.

She said research has shown that 95 percent of a child’s brain development is complete by the fifth birthday.

Forty programs in the Lynchburg region, roughly half of those available, are expected to participate in the rating system in the next two years, she said.

Programs are evaluated based on the learning environment, staff training, class size and other factors. At the end of the process, early-learning programs are not only rated, Layne said, but also given a report that outlines areas and means of improvement.

The staff of the programs rated this year are working to both mentor and rate other regional programs in the coming years, she added. An important part of that, she said, will be helping other directors navigate cumbersome paperwork.

More information about the program is available at http://www.smartbeginnings.org.