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1. Why is school readiness important?

When a child thrives in their earliest years, they are ready and poised for success forever! Learning begins at birth, and in the first five years of life, the human brain develops at a faster pace than any other time. That growth depends on nurturing caregivers and is the foundation for all the learning and development that follows.

2. What happens when children aren’t ready to start school?

Often, when children are not prepared, they begin school with a deficit in abilities - cognitive, social/ emotional, and physical - leading to a wide range of problems that are significantly more difficult and exponentially more expensive to address later. The experiences and interactions that take place between birth and school will greatly determine their success.

3. What is the Quality Rating Improvement System?

Virginia, along with more than half of the states in the U.S., has designed a system to evaluate and improve the quality of early care and education programs. The system is called the Virginia Star Quality Initiative (VSQI) and locally, this is called QRIS (Quality Rating Improvement System) and is a state-wide, voluntary quality assessment and improvement project for child care centers and home providers. It is administered jointly by the Virginia Early Childhood Foundation and the Office of Early Childhood Development.
Quality Rating Improvement System details