Our Mission

To provide young children emotional security, physical development, intellectual and social development and stimulation. This includes proper nutrition and a safe, healthy, cheerful environment with an outstanding curriculum and program. This also includes high caliber staff. We achieve this through staff trainings, positive staff-child interactions, positive staff-parent interactions and positive administrative- staff interactions. This is all accomplished in an early childhood setting which fosters nurturing, trust, respect and love for one another and the environment.

Philosophy

My goals for the child care are as follows:

First: I want to help children make the transition from their homes to this, their substitute home, as easy as possible. In order to achieve this, I must have an open relationship not only with the child/ren, but also their parents. It is important that the lines of communication are well established between all parties.

It is also important that the communication between my staff and myself be open so that it can flow over into the parent- staff relationship.

Second: I expect my staff and myself to teach the children self-respect. Positive reinforcement on the part of the complete staff frees the children to learn and feel good about themselves. This, in turn, helps them to want to acquire good habits, positive attitudes and the skills needed to face the world around them.

Last: I want to watch the children grow socially by providing developmentally appropriate activities. The children will have a chance to interact daily with their peers and become comfortable with them.

The Child Care’s Promise to You

We promise to insure the safe and healthful care of your child. We strive to provide each child with an environment that will stimulate effective cognitive, communicative, perceptual-motor, physical and social development.

1. To develop a positive attitude towards self and others, by providing a supportive social and emotional atmosphere.
2. To develop basic skills in reading readiness, ABCs, numbers, shapes and problem solving.
3. To develop positive feelings towards school and other learning environments.
4. To give the child the opportunity to succeed in activities within the program.
5. To create a learning environment that allows the child to grow physically, intellectually, socially and emotionally.
6. To provide activities that are stimulating and integrate cognition, perception and problem-solving skills into the education experience.
7. To enhance and support parents’ understanding of their role in their child’s education.
8. To facilitate teachers and parents partnering with each other concerning the growth and development of their child’s education.
9. To develop a program that builds self-image, individual strength and acceptance of self and others.
10. To support teachers, children and families through accessing outside help whenever the need arises.

***Please note: admissions, the provision of services and referrals shall be made without regard to race, color, religious creed, disability, ancestry, national origin, age, sexual orientation or sex. The most recent non-discrimination of services policy statement will be included in your welcoming packet for reference to our policies.

Licensing and Certification

Cynthia K. Franck’s Child Care, Inc. holds the following licenses and certifications:

• All three sites hold a current Certificate of Compliance from the state of PA Department of Human Services
• All three sites hold a current License to operate from the Allegheny County Health Department
• Our Verona site currently holds a STAR 2 designation, while our Penn Hills site holds a STAR 3 designation through the Keystone STARS program.

Please feel free to look us up through the DHS Online Child Care Search tool. You can use this tool to look up PA childcares anywhere in the state by name or area. This tool gives you, as a parent, a look into a prospective center’s pricing, services and licensing histories.

Building Towards Our Future

Cynthia K. Franck’s is always looking to further enhance our program by building on our strengths and identifying potential areas for growth. Over the past several years we have taken several steps forward in our path towards providing the best care possible.

Many of our staff have taken advantage of opportunities to work towards and/or obtain their CDAs or Early Childhood-related Associates degrees through different programs, including the T.E.A.C.H. program.

Although we have always designed our care and curriculum based on higher STAR level standards, all of our centers are currently working towards reaching STAR 3 status through the Keystone STARS program. We are now awaiting our ERS observations in order to apply for this higher ratings level. Our goal is to qualify our centers for the Pre-K Counts program in order to not only help our current families financially but to also give more families affordable access to our high-quality program.

We are also awaiting final approval for a Private Academic Nursery School license through the PA Department of Education for the Preschool classrooms at two of our sites.

Some recent accomplishments and partnerships include:

• Our Forest Hills and Penn Hills sites were named Let’s Move Pittsburgh Champion schools for 2019 and were able to purchase additional gross motor equipment for our centers to further support and enhance their health and wellness programs.
• Our Forest Hills site participated in the Wilkinsburg Quality Child Care Project that provided our staff the opportunity for free trainings, CDA programs and First Aid/CPR classes. We also received leadership and digital media training.
• We have participated in both the Wilkinsburg Work Group and East End Coop for area child care providers.
• We partner with the CC Mellor Memorial Library to bring a monthly story time program to our Forest Hills site.
• We participate in the Allegheny County Library Association’s bookmobile program to bring a monthly story time program to our Verona site.
• We participate in free child vision screening through the Blind & Vision Rehabilitation Services of Pittsburgh’s programs.