The preschool program at the Allen County Primary Center (ACPC) is a certified Level 5 Kentucky All Stars Program---the highest honor in the Kentucky’s All Stars Quality Program. The certification is awarded by the Kentucky Department of Education Office of Special Education and Early Learning Unit.
“That is the highest rating that can be given to a Kentucky preschool program.” explained Primary Center assistant principal and Preschool Director Matt Shepherd. “This represents a commitment we made two years ago when we switched to a Pyramid Rating model rating. The Pyramid model is a behavior system that we used that is adopted by the Kentucky Department of Education (KDE). They base their quality rating upon the positive behavior supports that we give as well as our work continuing with the learning of the social-emotional and the adaptive skills of our preschoolers.”
To receive the highest rating is a reflection of the long hours and hard work put forth by the preschool teachers and staff.
“There were certain criteria that we had to go by,” Shepherd added. “It was based on four categories. The first one was family and community engagement, the second was classroom and instruction quality, the third was staff qualification and professional development, and fourthly, administrative and leadership practices. It is behavior but it looks at our practices as a District for our preschool based on the four categories. The criteria dives into every aspect of preschool.”
Shepherd explains that state officials reviewed each category with ACPC and asked the school to detail the ways the school and District was working to meet the set criteria.
“For example, when we look at family engagement, the state was looking for what opportunities we had for family engagement outside the school,” Shepard said, noting that the school met that requirement through parent-teacher conferences. “Last year was the first time we had parent-teacher conferences as a preschool team. We had two opportunities for our preschool teachers to explain to parents about development and growth of their child based on the preschool standards. We also used data to share how we used our ParentSquare communication as a platform to communicate. We shared our agendas for parent conferences and screenshots of ParentSquare communication as evidence.”
With regard to the additional areas, KDE carefully examined the ways the school and teachers conducted activities and instruction to meet the requirements set forth. The extensive review was very comprehensive.
“They looked at our whole program with a fine-toothed comb to determine that the practices we have in place are of the highest quality,” Shepherd said.
Without a doubt the highest rating would not have been possible without the buy-in of the preschool teachers and staff. Teachers were asked to put forth their time and energy into raising the bar.
“To meet the professional development portion of the requirements, each of our teachers had to train in Tier I support which took two days, Tier II support which took another two days, and Tier III support which took another two days,” Shepard pointed out. “That’s six full days just on Tier I, Tier II, and Tier III. Then we had training and support from the regional training center on family engagement and persistent and challenging behavior in the classroom. We also developed a District rubric for teachers to follow for teachers who had president and challenging behavior based on our ACS Cares model for the District. This was to help out teachers to know what to do to help a child that may have persistent and challenging behavior.”
Shepherd says the five-star rating will “stay with us” for three years. After that time, the preschool program will go through the evaluation process once again----as part of the growth of the rating program through KDE.
“The state has three different cohorts,” Shepherd said. “We were in Cohort A and every school across the state in Cohort A already has a rating. This year is Cohort B’s year to be audited and next year will be Cohort C. Then the process will start over.”
Shepherd praised his preschool teachers and instructional aides who went above and beyond to meet the challenge and help the school achieve the outstanding rating.
“I’m very, very thankful for the hard work put in,” Shepherd added. “In the classroom and instruction quality domain, our evaluation came from what was seen in the classroom and our teachers and aides were at their best.”
The preschool program at ACPC has approximately 120 students divided into six classrooms. Six teachers and nine staff work with preschoolers Monday to Thursday each week throughout the school year. In Allen County, the preschool program is for four-year-olds meeting certain income requirements and three- and four-year-olds that show developmental delays. For additional information on preschool and guidelines, parents/guardians can visit the Allen County Primary Center webpage.