VGCC Day Care Center Earns State’s Highest Rating
The stars are shining brightly on the Vance-Granville Community College Day Care Center on its main campus in Vance County.
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 center.
The VGCC Child Care Center is the only center among 67 in Vance County to earn the top state rating. There is only one in other in the area – at VGCC’s Franklin County Campus Child Care Center. 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 VGCC centers, a state consultant visited each center for a day and checked their 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.
While VGCC officials expressed pleasure over receiving the highest state rating, Day Care Center Director Denise Gill 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.
Gill pointed out that not only does the center provide outstanding child care, but it also affords an excellent learning environment for students in Vance-Granville’s Early Childhood Associate program. This program is offered at both the Vance and Franklin County campuses, and enrolled students get practical training at the child care center.
The Day Care Center is licensed to accommodate 40 children, toddler to 4 years old. Parents may put their children on a waiting list when vacancies occur. For more information and to enroll children in the center, call Denise Gill at 492-2061, ext. 3220.
‘WE’VE GOT THE STARS’ – In the photo above Denise Gill, right, director of the Day Care Center on Vance-Granville Community College’s main campus, points out the recent 5-star rating earned from the state by the center. From left are Marissa Vaughan, 2, daughter of Bobby and Anna Vaughan of Henderson, ShaDerrica Harris, 5, daughter of Shawanda Hart of Oxford, and Chip Humphries, son of Julie and George Humphries Sr. of Henderson.
