The Private Industry Council of Westmoreland/Fayette, Inc. proudly announces that the Brownsville and Masontown state funded classrooms were recently awarded STAR 4 designation and North Union 5 classroom was awarded STAR 3 designations. These designations a 4 being the highest achievable, comes by the way of the PA Keystone Stars, a child care initiative.

Head Start has always maintained high quality facilities through observing and practicing the federal Performance Standards. With the addition of the STARS standards, Head Start has begun to incorporate some child care practices into its three year old classrooms.

To achieve Star 4 designation, the overall score in seven various subscales of the Early Childhood Environmental Rating Scale (ECERS) needed to be at least a 5.25. The Brownsville and Masontown centers scored 5.33 and 5.40 respectively. Scores are calculated in the subscale areas of Space and Furnishings, Personal Care Routines, Language-Reasoning, Activities, Interaction, Program Structure, and Parents and Staff. The North Union Head Start center achieved a 3 Star designation at 4.70 rating.

In addition to the ECERS, reviews of the program's policies, staff qualifications, parent involvement practices and professional development opportunities were instrumental in our "seeing stars."

The classroom and management are to be commended on this outstanding achievement.

To learn more about the Star Designations visit Keystone STARS website.