NEWS RELEASE - June 22, 2016
Eagle Child and Family Development Center receives highest certification as a STARS for KIDS NOW provider
PARKERS LAKE, Ky. — Christian Appalachian Project’s Eagle Child and Family Development Center (Eagle CFDC) has been recertified as a 4-Star provider in the STARS for KIDS NOW program, the highest certification available. This achievement signifies a program’s commitment to improving the quality of child care in Kentucky. The center scored a 6.7 on a 7-point scale.
The STARS for KIDS NOW program is part of the KIDS NOW Initiative (Kentucky Invests in Developing Success NOW!) and is administered by the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS).
| Christian Appalachian Project’s Eagle Child and Family Development Center received a nearly perfect mark in their recent recertification as a STARS for KIDS NOW childcare provider. Staff pictured: (from left to right) Andrea Spradlin, teacher's assistant; Shawnda Spradlin, coordinator; Brinda Campbell, manager; Mary Bea Ridner, youth coordinator; Lisa Smith, head teacher; Kathy Perry, food service coordinator; Sharon Patrick, case worker; and Phyllis Ridner, teacher's assistant. |
“When we provide families with quality childcare, they know that we value and promote their families’ way of thinking, feeling, and communicating,” said Brinda Campbell, manager of the Eagle Child and Family Development Center. “We strive to improve the self-image of our children and parents/guardians by recognizing that they are valued, important, and have their own individual differences and needs.”
According to CHFS, early care and education programs participating in STARS for KIDS NOW work to meet standards associated with quality care that result in positive outcomes for young children. STARS is Kentucky’s child care quality rating system. It is a resource available to help parents identify levels of quality when seeking a child care facility.
“Out of the thousands of Kentucky childcare centers, Eagle CFDC is among the 2% who have achieved this level of STARS rating. The community as a whole is proud of this center,” added Campbell, a graduate of McCreary County High School and Lindsey Wilson College.
Campbell knows firsthand what quality childcare means to the community. She started as a general educational development teacher with CAP and has been the manager of Eagle CFDC for the past six years. “I hope to one day expand so that we would be able to offer services to more children and their families in the Parkers Lake area. I want to see every child ready for kindergarten,” she said.
Eagle CFDC welcomes children, 3 to 4 years old, and their families. The preschool currently serves 20 to 25 families per school year. Any child who will be four years old on or before August 1 are age-eligible for the state-funded preschool program that seeks to prepare children for kindergarten. For more information on Christian Appalachian Project and their mission to help people in need in Appalachia, visit www.christianapp.org.
