Plano Community Unit School District 88 issued the following announcement on Jan. 23.
The P.H. Miller Preschool program was recognized with a top honor by ISBE: the ExceleRate Illinois Gold Circle of Quality.
ExceleRate Illinois is anchored by a set of standards that focus on early learning and development and places a high priority on instructional excellence, family services, staff qualifications, professional development, and program administration. It recognizes early learning providers who make quality a priority. It is a statewide quality recognition and improvement system designed to make continuous quality improvement an everyday priority.
P.H. Miller Preschool is part of the state’s Preschool for All program which provides preschool funding for students who are identified as being academically at risk. All programs receiving grant funding are monitored for quality and compliance annually. Every three years, the state conducts more extensive compliance monitoring to determine the level of quality of each Preschool for All programs.
In February 2018, P.H. Miller Preschool went through a rigorous audit that resulted in the Gold Circle of Quality recognition. The audit included a review of documents and a three-day in-class monitoring visit conducted through National Louis University’s contract with ISBE.
The Gold Circle of Quality recognizes programs that meet or exceed the highest quality goals. As a recipient of this level of recognition, the P.H. Miller Preschool program met the highest quality standards in three areas: learning environment and teaching quality; administrative standards; and training & education.
P.H. Miller Principal Laurel Mateyka is the first to acknowledge that the engaging classroom environments, strong family partnerships, and ongoing community support have brought the program this recognition.
“We are extremely proud of this designation. It was very affirming to have the state recognize all the hard work that goes into providing a high quality early learning experience for the children in our programs,” Mateyka said. “Our entire team is dedicated to offering an outstanding program to our students, their families, and our community on a daily basis.”
State preschools can earn gold, silver, or bronze designations like in the Olympics. Some preschools earned “provisional” gold, which means they have to improve in a few areas to attain full gold status. P.H. Miller Preschool is one of only four early childhood programs in Kendall County to earn the Gold Circle of Quality.
Mateyka said that one key element that distinguishes the preschool program at P.H. Miller is its teachers.
“All of our teachers are highly qualified.” she said. “They all have early childhood teaching certificates and ESL endorsements, and most have special education endorsements as well. The level of training and expertise of our staff greatly contributes to our success.”
“Although our curriculum is challenging, our instructional practices are developmentally appropriate,” Mateyka said. “You won’t find our students doing worksheets or sitting for long periods of time for whole group, direct instruction. In order to meet the developmental needs of our students, our staff embeds learning into every aspect of the day.”
“We believe it is critical for our students to learn in an environment where they have choices, are allowed to learn through play, develop their independence, and practice getting along with others. They are taken care of, nurtured, and respected in their development while being challenged to learn and grow--physically, socially, and academically.”
The 140+ students ages 3-5 that attend P.H. Miller Preschool have no idea what any of this means. All they know is that they are having fun, learning, and growing under the direction and care of their teachers. Students at P.H. Miller can be found constructing block towers with peers, engaging in dramatic play, learning about the world around them, and developing their gross motor skills in the gym or on the playground each and every day.
“Our staff is knowledgeable and focused on continuous improvement,” Mateyka said. “I feel like we really do know what we’re doing regarding what’s best for young children. We work very hard to help them be safe, healthy, eager to learn, and ready to succeed in school and in life.”
The program currently offers 6 half-day sections of preschool for 3-5 year-olds and 2 full-day sections of preschool for 4-5 year-olds who will enter kindergarten in August 2019.
“Even though we added an additional classroom this year, we continue to have a waiting list. Unfortunately, we are limited on space at P.H. Miller and do not have room for another preschool classroom.” Mateyka said. “We currently have our preschool screenings at Plano High School and our Family Resource Center is located at the United Methodist Church due to space limitations at P.H. Miller.”
“At the end of the day, the school’s Gold Circle of Quality isn’t about getting a distinguished award,” Mateyka said, “but about providing the highest quality experience for all of our students and building a strong foundation for learning.”
Original source can be found here.
Source: Plano Community Unit School District 88
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