EAST PROVIDENCE — Earlier this term, the East Providence School District’s Pre-Kindergarten program, in just its third year, earned the very lofty distinction of a five-star rating according to the Rhode Island Department of Education’s BrightStars measure.

In acknowledging the achievement, Pre-K principal Karen Rebello saluted the teachers and aides associated with the program in classrooms at Martin Middle School and Oldham Elementary School prior to an informational meeting for parents Wednesday night, May 22.

East Providence became only the third public school Pre-K program in the state to earn the top BrightStars ranking, joining Barrington and Westerly. Coventry also recently entered the group.

The curriculum, mandatorily followed by both public and private Pre-K institutions, is based around RIDE’s Comprehensive Early Childhood Education standards, which are used to assess the quality of instruction received and progress made by the students involved in Pre-K programs. The scale of measure for BrightStars rankings is one to five.

The Martin Middle School Pre-K staff recognized last week included (teacher, classroom aide): Sara Mistretta, Lynn DiCecco; Samantha Soares, Sarah Pereira; Maggie Saunders, Mary Johnston; Linda Murphy, LeAnn Dunn; and Lacy Rego, Amy Limoges. Building Based aides are Jeneen Brito and Ginny Keneally. The Oldham staff honored were (teacher, classroom aide): Leslie Andrade, Stephanie Munro; and Ashley Vigliotti, Cindy Joseph.

“I wanted to recognize my teachers and para professionals for achieving the state's highest level of Comprehensive Early Childhood Education Standards,” said Mrs. Rebello. “We are already there after only three short years. My teachers deserve the recognition.”