Less than a year after its September 2025 opening, the Patton Avenue Learning Center has earned Pennsylvania’s highest quality rating for child care.
Run by Opportunity House, the center in the heart of Reading’s Oakbrook neighborhood serves families living in the Reading Housing Authority’s Oakbrook Homes as well as the larger community.
Staff, state and local officials, families and community partners gathered Monday at the Oakbrook Neighborhood Resource Center to celebrate its designation as a STAR 4 program under Pennsylvania’s Keystone STARS quality improvement and rating system.
“Today is about much more than a rating,” Opportunity House CEO Alyssa Bushkie said. “It is about what becomes possible when talented educators, staff, committed families, strong community partners and people who truly believe in children come together for a shared purpose.”
Michelle Wunder, regional ambassador for the Pennsylvania Child Care Association, speaks during ceremonies honoring the Patton Avenue Learning Center’s STAR 4 achievement on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Bushkie said staff achieved the designation while opening the center, enrolling children, establishing classroom routines, completing developmental assessments and parent-teacher conferences, meeting licensing requirements and undergoing a food program audit.
“The word ‘quickly’ should never be confused with easily,” she said. “This achievement required an extraordinary amount of work.”
The center was established after a community survey led by United Way of Berks County and local volunteers identified child care as a critical need in Oakbrook. The housing authority selected Opportunity House to operate the program in a renovated building at Oakbrook Homes.
Shante’ Brown, deputy secretary of the state Office of Child Development and Early Learning, speaks during ceremonies honoring the Patton Avenue Learning Center’s STAR 4 achievement on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
It builds on Opportunity House’s three decades of providing early childhood education at its Second Street Learning Center.
The center’s ties to Oakbrook are particularly personal for director Yessenia Vasquez.
“I’m just a kid from Reading,” Vasquez told the crowd. “I’m just a kid from the Oakbrook neighborhood.”
Vasquez said she grew up in Oakbrook and Glenside housing and received a scholarship for residents of subsidized housing that helped her earn a degree in early childhood education. She now has two decades of experience in early childhood care and leadership.
Yessenia Vasquez, center, director of child care at the Patton Avenue Learning Center, receives an award during ceremonies honoring the center’s STAR 4 achievement on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
The center, which has capacity for 64 children, opened with eight and has grown to 41, ranging from 6 weeks old to kindergarten-age, Vasquez said. Eighteen live in Oakbrook.
The program also emphasizes local hiring, she said, with three neighborhood residents working as its kitchen manager and assistant teachers.
“For me, this center is much more than a child care,” Vasquez said. “It’s about the opportunity to give children a safe place to learn and grow, giving parents a place they can trust and create opportunities for people who call this neighborhood home.”
Sheri Roth, quality coach for Early Learning Resource Center 13, speaks during ceremonies honoring the Patton Avenue Learning Center’s STAR 4 achievement on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Shante’ Brown, deputy secretary of the state Office of Child Development and Early Learning, said Keystone STARS programs are evaluated in areas including staff education, learning environments, leadership and management, and family and community partnerships.
“It takes hard work, collaboration and a deep commitment to early learning to gain each new star,” Brown said. “And I am so proud of Patton Avenue for reaching our highest designation.”
State Sen. Judy Schwank emphasized that programs such as Patton Avenue provide more than supervision for children while their parents work.
“We’re talking about early learning, not just care,” Schwank said. “Care is important, but we are taking advantage of this opportunity for children at the age when their minds are still forming.”
Yessenia Vasquez, director of child care at the Patton Avenue Learning Center, celebrates the center’s STAR 4 achievement during ceremonies Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
Sheri Roth, a quality coach with Early Learning Resource Center 13 who worked with the center through the STAR process, said the speed of the achievement was unusual.
“They came off of their provisional, went to a one, went immediately to a STAR 4,” Roth said, noting the center reached the designation in April. “It was record time.”
The celebration also included a surprise $10,000 gift from an anonymous donor, announced by Tammy White of United Way of Berks County.
White said the money is intended to provide additional investment in centers that achieve STAR 4 status through their partnership with United Way’s Growing Readers program. It can be used for equipment, technology, curriculum, classroom supplies, professional development, staff recognition or other improvements.
Yessenia Vasquez, director of child care at the Patton Avenue Learning Center, hugs Tammy White, president of the United Way of Berks County, after receiving a $10,000 donation during ceremonies honoring the center’s STAR 4 achievement on Monday, Aug. 17, 2026. (BILL UHRICH/READING EAGLE)
“The donors that gave us these dollars want to remain anonymous because they want the focus on you,” White told the center staff. “They want the focus on achievement.”
For Vasquez, the achievement ultimately comes back to the neighborhood that shaped her.
“We are not simply located in this community,” she said. “We are part of this community, and we are investing in its future — one child and one family at a time.”