About BrightStars
BrightStars assists families in finding quality early care, education and afterschool programs. Families looking for care may search online or call 1-855-398-7605. BrightStars also evaluates the quality of early care, education and afterschool programs and rates them from one (1) to five (5) stars and then helps them improve and expand their quality.
By becoming BrightStars-rated, early care, education, and afterschool programs show that they are committed to quality. BrightStars ratings are based on research-based standards that support development and learning.
BrightStars rates early care and education programs in the following standards:
- Health, Safety and Nutrition
- Enrollment and Staffing
- Staff Qualifications and Ongoing Professional Development
- Administration
- Early Learning and Development
- Family Engagement
BrightStars rates School-Age Care programs (K-5) in the following standards
- Childs’s Daily Experience
- Teaching and Learning
- Staff-Child Ratio and Group Size
- Family Communication and Involvement
- Staff Qualifications
- Program Management
What the Star Ratings Mean
1 Star Rating
Meets minimum standards to operate and is committed to quality improvement
2 Star Rating
Compliant in all critical areas of state licensing requirements and is approaching quality standards
3 Star Rating
Compliant in all critical areas of state licensing requirements and meets higher quality standards
4 Star Rating
Compliant in all critical areas of state licensing requirements and exceeds higher quality standards
5 Star Rating
Compliant in all critical areas of state licensing requirements and far exceeds higher quality standards
Programs are assigned a BrightStars star rating equal to their lowest level achieved across all BrightStars standards. The base is the minimum standards an early care, education and afterschool program must meet to operate and the ladder represents steps programs can achieve to meet higher levels of quality.
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Child Care Centers
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Public Schools
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Family Child Care Homes
Search early care, education and afterschool programs and learn more about their quality.
