Keystone STARS Child Care Quality Ratings for Families
Keystone STARS is Pennsylvania's rating system for child care and early learning programs, explained for families by Pennsylvania's Promise for Children. It rates child care programs from one to four STARS on things you care about, so you can see how a program measures up before you enroll your child.
Child care and Head Start programs within Keystone STARS earn a STAR 1 to STAR 4 rating based on quality standards that measure four things:
- Staff education: early childhood teachers have the training and knowledge for working with young children.
- Classroom and learning environment: the program has a variety of materials and activities for each age level.
- Including families and the community: families and community members are encouraged to become a part of the child's learning progress.
- Leadership and management: sound business practices to ensure your child's safety and early learning.
As programs earn more STARS, they are providing higher quality early education for your child.
At a Keystone STARS program you can expect a Department of Human Services Certificate of Compliance for child care centers, or a Certificate of Registration for family child care homes. You can also expect a comfortable place where your child can explore and learn; laughing, reading and talking which builds language skills; teachers who continue to learn new ways to help your child thrive; a safe, healthy and exciting place; music, art, science and play activities that increase school preparedness; and families involved in the program and their child's development.
To find rated programs near you, use the state provider search at compass.state.pa.us. Click "Find a Provider" to choose what you are looking for in a program. You can select by things like your child's age, your location, if you need access to public transportation, and how many STARS each program has. When your results come up, look for the STAR level listed with each program.
Your local Early Learning Resource Center (ELRC) can also help you find a Keystone STARS provider. The list of ELRCs is at raiseyourstar.org.
Pennsylvania's Promise for Children, the campaign that publishes this information for families, is at 200 North Third Street, 2nd Floor, Harrisburg, PA 17101. Its general contact number is 1-844-569-7253 and its email is papromise@pakeys.org.
The page does not say whether using the search or the rating information costs anything, and it does not give hours for the phone line.
Source: papromiseforchildren.com/keystone-stars, read November 1, 2026.
The details
In The Pennsylvania Key’s words
Keystone STARS can help you understand the quality of a child care/ early learning program.
Organization
The Pennsylvania Key
About this listing
This listing summarizes publicly available information from papromiseforchildren.com/keystone-stars. Last recorded review: November 1, 2026. Contact the provider to confirm eligibility, hours and availability before you go. If something here is wrong, tell us.