McKinney and Waynesburg early care and education programs have earned a Five Star Rating based on the Kentucky All STARS Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement System.

A Five Star Rating is the highest rating possible to be earned. The All STARS system is certified by the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, Department for Community Based Services, Division of Child Care and the Kentucky Department of Education.

Kentucky All STARS is Kentucky’s expanded five-star quality rating and improvement system for early care and education programs. Studies show that children who attend high quality early learning environments have better math, language and social skills. The unified system serves all early care and education programs that receive public funding including child care centers, Head Start and public preschool.

Kentucky All STARS is based on Kentucky’s Early Childhood Standards and research-based indicators of quality. It recognizes programs that have made a commitment to continuous quality improvement. On the path toward higher quality, programs can benefit from supports including training, technical assistance and coaching.

On the expanded five-star scale, STARS level one is obtained by meeting regulatory requirements. STARS level two is obtained by completing a set of required domains and standards. STARS levels three through five features a range of points programs must meet in order to meet to move up on the rating scale. While there are required domains for these three STARS levels, programs can choose from a menu of standards to fulfill the requirements.