Children’s Learning Center and Project FREE preschool recently earned a five-star rating from Great Start to Quality which reflects a program’s commitment to quality and preparing children for kindergarten and life. Several Children’s Learning Center students are pictured displaying the five-star rating certificate (front from left) Brentley Bowman, Joshua Dixon, Ivan Ulrich, (back from left) Aliann Wiklanski, Marion Kempke and Marlee Roberts.
Children’s Learning Center and Project FREE preschool, programs of the Women’s Resource Center of Northern Michigan (WRCNM), have received a five-star quality rating from Great Start to Quality. The tiered quality rating system helps assess and improve child care and preschool programs to make sure early learning settings are preparing children to succeed in school and life. Great Start to Quality rates the level of quality of all licensed and registered child care and preschool programs in Michigan.

The five-star rating is the result of high scores in these areas: staff qualifications, family and community partnerships, administration, environment, curriculum, screening and assessment. The scores in each area are combined to give a star rating, which can range from an empty star to five stars which represents the highest quality. The five-star rating indicates a program’s commitment to quality and continually making improvements to help prepare children for kindergarten and beyond.

Children’s Learning Center is a fully licensed facility offering quality educational programming for children ages 2½ to 10. Project FREE is a Great Start Readiness Program that emphasizes social and kindergarten readiness skills for children who live in Emmet or northern Charlevoix counties. To learn more about the Children’s Learning Center, contact the WRCNM main office at (231) 347-0067 or visit www.wrcnm.org.