SSCC's Patri-Tots Center earns 100 percent rating

      The Patri-Tots Learning Center at Southern State Community College’s North Campus in Wilmington didn’t just pass its recent state licensing inspection, it obtained a rating of 100 percent compliant. This follows the same perfect rating earned in 2009 by the Patri-Tots Learning Center at SSCC’s Central Campus in Hillsboro.

      Karee Shaw, site administrator for the North Campus Patri-Tots, said the state inspector reported she “continues to be impressed with the center and the quality of the program.” 

      Making an impression is not enough to get such a high mark on the inspection, however; you have to be “perfect.” The Ohio Department of Job & Family Services, overseer of the center’s licensing, enforces strict guidelines which, first and foremost, put the children’s safety first.

      The ODJFS’s Bureau of Child Care & Development makes sure the state’s childcare centers follow a strict set of rules, policing student/teacher ratios, food and nutrition requirements, emergency procedures and equipment safety, as well as background checks and educational requirements of the center’s teachers.

      “We have worked very hard toward 100 percent compliance, and have been very close many times,” said Shaw. “This is a well-deserved pat on the back for the staff who work here. I would like to thank them for all of their hard work and dedication, as well as Kathe Chaney and her staff at the Central Campus center. I also want to thank our families and the community for their support of our program.”

      Southern State houses Patri-Tots Learning Centers at Central Campus in Hillsboro and North Campus in Wilmington. Both child learning centers are licensed by the ODJFS and are open five days a week serving community members and college students, faculty and staff.  The Hillsboro location accepts children from 18 months to 12 years of age and the Wilmington location accepts children from 18 months to 5 years of age.  There are both part-time and full-time space options at each location.

      Developmentally appropriate activities within a preschool setting are provided by qualified teachers who have aligned their curriculum with the Ohio Early Learning Standards.

      Southern State’s child learning centers are in the process of applying for inclusion in the “Step Up to Quality” program, a voluntary quality-rating system for early care and education programs licensed by the ODJFS. This program is partnered with the Ohio Department of Education’s Office of Early Learning and School Readiness.

  “We are very excited about participating in the ‘Step Up to Quality, program,” said Shaw.  “We already know our standards of early education and the quality of our programs are high. To have that validated by a state organization will give our parents, staff, community and college another reason to be proud of the Patri-Tots Learning Centers.”

      For more information about SSCC’s Patri-Tots Learning Centers, contact Shaw (Wilmington site) at 1-800-628-7722, ext. 4629, or Chaney (Hillsboro site) at 1-800-628-7722, ext. 2629.  To learn more about Southern State Community College, please visit www.sscc.edu.