Providing youth with a safe, nurturing and healthy environment is the goal of the La Porte County Family YMCA Childcare and Learning Center. The fully licensed, curriculum-based facility achieved Level 4 Paths to Quality certification and accreditation from National Early Childhood Program Accreditation (NECPA). It is the only childcare center within the city of La Porte to comply with the childcare quality measurement system’s rigorous national standards.
According to Paths to Quality, the system identifies four levels of quality. Childcare programs start at Level 1- by meeting basic health and safety standards and may progress to the highest level- level 4, which includes achieving national accreditation. Every level also contains significant staff training and education requirements. With the start of the new school year, the La Porte County Family YMCA encourages parents/caregivers to make sure that children are involved in a play-based curriculum that nurtures the spirit, mind and body.
“The combination of enrichment and extended learning opportunities is essential to increasing children’s success in school,” said Abbie Prasco, Youth Development Director, La Porte County Family YMCA. “Y youth development programs promote a love for learning, social and emotional development, healthy choices, character and creativity, and provide children with the knowledge to have a successful transition into the public school system.”
The Childcare and Learning Center is one of a small number of preschools in Indiana that participates in the ISTAR-KR assessment system. ISTAR-KR is a teacher rating process to track a child’s development, identifying developmental delays and to allow for individualization of programs to enhance an individual child’s strengths and weaknesses. The center is now accepting full-time, part-time and hourly children. They are also looking for certified staff to join their cause-driven team of childcare professionals.
For more information about the La Porte County Family YMCA Childcare and Learning Center, please contact Abbie Prasco, Youth Development Director at 219.326.7646 or by email at aprasco@lpymca.org or visit www.lpymca.org.