Child Care Center at VGCC Franklin Campus Earns State’s Highest Rating
The stars are shining full force on the Child Care Center at Vance-Granville Community College’s Franklin County Campus.
After a thorough review and inspection, the Division of Child Development of the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has awarded a five-star rating – the highest awarded by the state – to the Franklin Campus center.
The VGCC Child Care Center is the only center among 30 in Franklin County to earn the top state rating. There is only one in Vance County – at the VGCC Day Care Center – and none in Granville County. Out of 243 child care centers in Wake County, only seven earned five-star ratings.
Rating child care centers from one to five stars began in North Carolina in 2000. A center must apply to the state for anything above one star. After receiving a long, detailed application from the Franklin County Campus center, a state consultant visited the center for a day and checked its compliance with regulations, classroom activities and staff credentials.
The inspectors consider three categories, worth five points each. They are staff education, program standards and compliance history. The Franklin County Campus Child Care Center scored 14 of a possible 15 points.
While VGCC officials expressed pleasure over receiving the highest state rating, Child Care Center Director Lynn Sherron said it is the children and their parents who are the real winners. “There is a direct correlation between the number of stars earned and the quality of care at a center,” she said. “Earning the five-star rating shows everyone that we give the best quality of care available.”
The more stars a center earns, the more potential is has for funding incentives from the Smart Start program for subsidized students.
Sherron pointed out that not only does the center provide outstanding child care, but it affords an excellent learning environment for students in Vance-Granville’s Early Childhood Associate program. This program is offered at the Franklin County Campus, and enrolled students get practical training at the child care center.
The Franklin County Campus Child Care Center is licensed to accommodate 22 children, 2 to 5 years old. There are currently a couple of vacancies and, if all spaces are filled, parents may put their children on a waiting list when vacancies occur. For more information and to enroll children in the center, call Lynn Sherron at 496-1567, ext. 3233.
‘WE’VE GOT THE STARS’ – In the photo above, four 2 year-olds at the Child Care Center at Vance-Granville Community College’s Franklin County Campus help center Director Lynn Sherron celebrate the center receiving a five-star rating from the state. With Sherron are, from left: Addison Goswick and LaMonika Morrison, both of Louisburg, Christopher Johnson of Henderson and Alyssa Kearney of Franklinton.
