KidShip a Participant in Quality Start Program
KidShip Day Health and Preschool Program at Totally Kids to Participate in
Countywide Initiative Aimed at Enhancing Quality in Early Education
Encourage Continuous Quality Improvement in Early Learning Programs
(LOMA LINDA, Calif. – April 23, 2018) — Totally Kids Rehabilitation Hospital announced today that its KidShip day health program will be one of the participants in “Quality Start,” a countywide initiative in San Bernardino designed to help early care and education professionals provide the highest-quality learning experience possible.
KidShip is a unique preschool program that brings medically fragile or developmentally delayed children together with kids without disabilities to play and learn in one supportive setting. It is the only pediatric day healthcare program in the Inland Empire that offers a full-inclusion preschool program for typically developing students and medically fragile children.
“Quality Start is committed to supporting early childhood educators with the resources and information that encourages continuous quality improvement in early learning programs,” said KidShip Director Andria Clausell. “This is extremely important to both parents and children as research has shown that high-quality early learning experiences prepare a child for success in kindergarten and beyond.”
By participating in Quality Start San Bernardino, Clausell says that the KidShip staff can avail themselves of professional coaching and development opportunities, customized plans to guide quality-improvement efforts, and be part of a peer support network of early childhood educators committed to quality learning. KidShip will also be exposed to resource grants for classroom materials, equipment and facility improvements.
“Knowing that KidShip is part of Quality Start will give parents the peace of mind that their child is enrolled in a program committed to quality at every level,” says Clausell. “It’s about understanding what quality looks like in the form of appropriate teacher-to-child ratios; learning activities that support each child’s interests and development; safe, healthy and engaging environments; and a focus on overall child well-being.”
Quality Start’s operational partners are First 5 San Bernardino; San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools; Child Care Resource Center; and California State University, San Bernardino. More information on the program is available at qualitystartsbc.org.
Serving children and their families for nearly 50 years, Totally Kids Rehabilitation Hospital is widely regarded as one of the nation’s pioneers in providing personalized rehabilitation and habilitation services for children. Today Totally Kids offers a full array of resources for children who are recovering from physical trauma or surgery, or have suffered catastrophic illness, and those dependent on technology through a portfolio of acclaimed programs and services that includes acute pediatric rehabilitation (both inpatient and outpatient), subacute, pediatric day health and preschool, and residential intermediate care.
