5 Ways Texas Rising Star Certification Benefits Your Child’s Early Education in DeSoto and Lancaster

Raising a child is one of the most challenging yet rewarding experiences a person can have. When it comes to their future, you want to ensure they have every advantage possible. While a typical K through 12 education can prepare them, any earlier start can only benefit them more. 

The Texas Rising Star program ensures children get a high-quality early learning experience backed by the Texas government. Texas Rising Star certification is available to licensed centers and licensed or registered early childcare home facilities that meet the certification standards. If you’re in the DeSoto and Lancaster areas, Southwest Academies provides Texas Rising Star-certified childcare at four different locations. Discover how our academies surpass expectations in early education, safety, and family engagement.

What Is Texas Rising Star Certification?

Texas Rising Star certification is given to licensed centers and licensed and registered child care home facilities that meet or exceed the Texas Rising Star criteria. The Texas Rising Star program is a quality rating and improvement system for early learning centers across the state of Texas. It allows parents to assess the credibility of an early learning establishment and provides academies with a standardized rubric for further development and refinement. 

The Texas Rising Star program works on a three-star system, ranging from two to four stars. Each level determines how many quality standards the institution may meet and typically how expensive its care will be. Each qualifying early learning program is graded on certain factors with varying weights assigned to each factor, including:

• Director and staff qualifications and training (20%)
• Teacher-child interactions (40%)
• Program administration (20%)
• Indoor and outdoor environments (20%)

The methodology for determining the star level of a category is based on the early learning program’s average score across all measures of a category:

• Four-Star—average score is 2.4 or greater (80% of total possible points)
• Three-Star—average score is 1.80 to 2.39 (60–79.9% of total possible points)
• Two-Star—average score is below 1.80 (less than 60% of total possible points)

The Texas Rising Star Provider Certification was first introduced in 1991 to evaluate early learning programs and has seen consistent improvements to this day. The goal of the Texas Rising Star program is to improve the base for all early learning programs while standardizing this new level of quality across the state. 

1. Fostering Long-Term Academic Success

Enrolling your child in an early childhood learning program comes with various benefits, one of the most important being the ability to foster long-term academic success. According to the Administration for Children & Families, early child care and education provide a variety of benefits in children, including: 

• Develop skills that will benefit them in school and in life, such as learning foundational skills for reading, math, self-control, and positive relationships.
• Enhance children’s cognitive and social-emotional development.
• The benefits of high-quality early child care and education often last into kindergarten, and some studies show lasting effects into middle school and high school. 

The educators at Southwest Academies are passionate about helping children find their passion and love for learning. Each of our centers has set itself apart from the competition through our well-rounded curriculum that focuses on more than just a child’s academic abilities. We want our students to be able to thrive in all aspects of life, from their motor skills to their social skills. We offer an incredible list of programs, each specially crafted to support the development of new skills while honing previously mastered ones. Establishing a strong base for a lifetime of strong academic and corporate performance

2. Higher Learning Standards at Our Texas Rising Star Centers in DeSoto

Texas Rising Star Centers ensure your child gains access to the highest standard of education available. Since the rising star system offers three different ranks based on performance, it encourages programs to improve to attain progressively higher levels of quality. At Southwest Academies, all our locations adhere to this system and, as a result, can ensure higher learning standards for all our child care and early learning programs. With these higher learning standards, your child gains access to benefits you don’t see with standard education programs, like: 

• Prolonged academic success. 
• Social, emotional, and cognitive development. 
• Improved independence and confidence. 
• Better communication skills

3. Safer, Cleaner Facilities at Texas Rising Star Locations in Lancaster

Texas Rising Star standards don’t stop at educational quality, but they also include facility quality. Children can’t develop their academic and social skills in unsanitary or unclean areas. As repetitive illnesses become a common occurrence, our faculty takes the extra mile to ensure your children only learn in safe and clean environments.  As a result, we strictly enforce the following measures in all classrooms:

• All children and staff who show symptoms of illness are required to stay home until they are symptom-free for 24 hours.
• All classrooms are regularly cleaned, sanitized, and disinfected, including frequently touched toys, surfaces, and other objects.
• Staff and children are required to wash their hands multiple times throughout the day to stop the spread of germs.
• All crib sheets, washable toys, and blankets are laundered weekly.

4. Better-Trained Teachers at Southwest Academies in DeSoto & Lancaster

Children benefit most when ECE is high-quality. High-quality ECE programs go beyond basic health and safety requirements to provide warm, responsive relationships with educators, stimulating and developmentally appropriate curricula, and ongoing training for educators.

Texas Rising Star programs can only be taught by educators who have acquired the necessary certifications. As a Texas Rising Star certified establishment, Southwest Academies holds its staff to the very same level of scrutiny. Staff qualifications and training measures capture the education, experience, and ongoing professional development of those who directly influence caregiving and teaching in various capacities. The three key ideas of staff training are:

• Specific knowledge and experience
• Ongoing professional development
• A supportive work environment with well-developed policies and practices

5. Healthier USDA Meals at All Texas Rising Star Sites in DeSoto

To ensure a healthy environment where our students can focus on learning, all our locations offer breakfast, lunch, an afternoon snack, and dinner. Southwest Academies is committed to providing wholesome, USDA-approved meals and snacks that adhere to the Child Care Food Program (CACFP) guidelines. We love instilling the peace of mind that comes from knowing their child will enjoy balanced nutrition every day. We understand children need a balanced nutritional diet to promote proper growth and development. All of our menu options are designed to support the healthy growth, development, and fueling of the mind, body, and soul.

All 4 Southwest Academies Locations Are Texas Rising Star Certified

For decades, Southwest Academies has committed to providing high-quality education and a supportive environment that addresses every part of our students’ development. Between our 4 locations, we ensure your child can receive a comprehensive education, whether they’re in DeSoto, Lancaster, or the surrounding areas.

Texas Rising Star Standards at Our Four Locations

All of our locations are 100% Texas Rising Star certified, offering learning programs for infants, toddlers, pre-kindergarten, and school-age children ranging from 4 weeks to 13 years old.  Our before and after-school programs ensure your child’s safety as you balance any hectic workplace demands. Southwest Academies also offers summer camp programs led by a driven team of educators. No matter what program your child is enrolled in at Southwest Academies, the well-being of our students is our number one concern. Here’s a close look at our current locations:

• Park Ridge Academy: (972) 223-7913
  • Address: 415 E Parkerville Rd, DeSoto, TX 75115
• Berne Academy: (972) 227-4431
  • Address: 1311 Johns Ave, Lancaster, TX 75134
• Forest Park Academy: (972) 298-5467
  • Address: 2024 N Westmoreland Rd, DeSoto, TX 75115
• First Step Learning Center: (972) 230-8100
  • Address: 335 S Hampton Rd, DeSoto, TX 75115

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