WV STARS stands for West Virginia State
Training and Registry System

We Believe...

Childhood experiences and a child's environment have an enormous impact on how children learn and interact with each other from birth throughout life. Quality care and education programs depend on having a well-trained, stable, and valued workforce to ensure that children succeed and families are supported.

Our Mission

To impact care and education by promoting quality professional development opportunities for those who care for, educate and support West Virginia's children and families.

Our Goals

The goals of WV STARS are to:

• Adopt a core body of knowledge needed by all practitioners to ensure a consistent base of training.
• Make sure all practitioners have access to training based on the core body of knowledge available to them.
• Implement a career pathway promoting continuation of education and experience and encouraging increased compensation for advancement.
• Strengthen connections among local, regional, and state partners to benefit children and families.

Beneficiaries

WV STARS includes and benefits all early care and education professionals working in a variety of settings (child care centers, private and public preschools, Head Start, Early Head Start, family child care homes and facilities, home visitation programs, early intervention, school aged child care, parent education programs, regulatory agencies, and trainers). Program administrators, communities, as well as children and their families also receive the benefits of the Professional Development System.