by Bea Peterson
The Morningstar Early Childhood Education Center at the corner of Route 22 and Johnson Hill Road has been looking after babies and toddlers and educating young children for 25 consecutive years. The Center has been NYS licensed for more than 25 years. Rev. Mike Benoit, President of the Board, said, “All of our staff members have worked here at least five years and some of them have worked here for many, many years.” Staff training and site improvements are a regular part of the operation. “All our staff members have Child Care Development Accreditation,” added Executive Director Lois Benoit.
This past year the Center had an opportunity to participate in a field test program called QUALITYstarsNY, a project of the NYS Early Childhood Advisory Council. As a result of the field testing, Morningstar was selected, through a grant, to work with one of six Quality Improvement Planning Specialists in the state and to take advantage of the QUALITY Scholars resources for professional development and training.
The Council on Children and Families recently released a new document that shows the updated learning expectations for what children should know and be able to do at what ages. Since NYS ranks second among the fifty states, the District of Columbia and the Department of Defense on both standards and oversight for Child Care Centers, the Council wants to continue this positive approach for New York’s 1.6 million children. QUALITYstarsNY is designed to improve the quality and provide technical assistance and professional development to Centers throughout the state. Morningstar is getting in on the ground floor of this updated training. Lois Benoit added that New York State has adopted new licensing protocol for all child care centers and home care centers will also be expected to comply with that new protocol.
According to the literature, “The purpose of aligning the state’s developmental guidelines and standards is to help ensure that all children who attend any early care and education setting in the state will experience responsive and knowledgeable teachers in stimulating learning environments that support and build upon each child’s development.”
Morningstar Early Childhood Education Center already had many of the pieces in place. They have wonderful outdoor play yards for the children and plenty of activities for them all day long as well. They are licensed to provide care for up to 80 children but have far fewer at the moment.
Morningstar is always accepting new enrollments, including in their pre-school program, which is based on the Universal pre-k program. The pre-school program hours are 9 am to 3 pm.
Rev. Benoit feels one of the strong features of the Center is the fact they are open from 6 am to 6 pm. This is a definite advantage for parents who work outside the town, he said. He added that the rates at the Center are notably the least expensive in the County for this type of facility.
For more information on Morningstar Early Childhood Education Center, call 518-686-7408 or visit their website morningstarecec.com.
