ECEMS Childcare Center at CSU-Pueblo Shines with Four-Star Qualistar Rating

Pueblo-  The Early Childhood Education Management Systems (ECEMS) Child Care Center at Colorado State University-Pueblo received four out of four stars this month from the Qualistar Early Learning rating organization. This four-star rating makes the center one of two four-star childcare centers in the city of Pueblo and one of the few in the state to receive four stars on its first initial evaluation.

Qualistar Early Learning, a nonprofit childcare rating organization that evaluates Colorado early education centers and offers suggestions for improvement, made unannounced visits to the center to examine the learning environment, family partnership, staff training, and education, teacher-student ratios and group sizes, and national accreditation.

The Qualistar rating evaluates the quality and effectiveness of childcare programs and summarizes the strengths and weaknesses within that program, while providing tips and advice for any improvements. Trained observers spend several hours in each classroom in order to collect and record this information, and then calculate their scores to achieve the Qualistar rating, which is based on a four-star rating system with four being the highest.

“Receiving this four-star rating is a reflection of the quality business model we use here,” said Louanna Razo, owner of ECEMS, which manages the CSU-Pueblo center. “We received our highest scores on our family partnerships, and we are particularly proud of the relationships we have with our children and families.”

The ECEMS center currently serves 77 children from 24 months to five years old, the majority of which are children of CSU-Pueblo students. Children are divided into three classrooms, a toddler room and two pre-kindergarten classrooms, that all use a research-based, child-centered curriculum that focuses on the children’s particular areas of interest and developmental needs.

“We incorporate the project approach in order for children to have the opportunity to explore their interest areas more deeply through play,” Razo said. “This creative activity develops one aspect of a cognitive skill called executive function, which has been shown to be a predictor of success in schools.”

To learn more about the ECEMS center at CSU-Pueblo, call 719-549-2407, email louanna.razo@colostate-pueblo.edu, or visit http://auxiliaryservices.colostate-pueblo.edu/childcare.html.

For more information about Qualistar Early Learning, call 303-339-6800, or visit http://www.qualistar.org.


Colorado State University - Pueblo is a regional, comprehensive university emphasizing professional, career-oriented, and applied programs. Displaying excellence in teaching, celebrating diversity, and engaging in service and outreach, CSU-Pueblo is distinguished by access, opportunity, and the overall quality of services provided to its students.