Diamant is active in community leadership throughout the Lehigh Valley including past and present positions with United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley and Via.

Diamant has attended management classes at the prestigious Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, and holds a bachelor’s from Montclair State University. He is fluent in Spanish and French.

Diamant’s expertise is a welcome addition to the Board as CSC envisions diversification strategies to support the growing demand for quality early childhood education.

CSC is a regional leader in early childhood education, affecting the lives of 40,000 children annually. CSC believes all children deserve a chance to succeed in school, which begins in early childhood within a nurturing family.

 Currently CSC administers one of six Regional Keys which deliver quality improvement services to child care providers. The state is reducing the six Regional Keys to five. Columbia, Sullivan, Bradford, Lycoming, and Tioga, the five new counties, will join Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Monroe, Pike, Wayne, Susquehanna, Lackawanna, Schuylkill, Wyoming, and Luzerne in CSC’s Regional Key territory. The number of child care providers currently enrolled in the Stars program will jump from 800 to 900 plus. An estimated 35,000 children are already affected by the quality improvements provided by the Stars program in the Northeast region.

 Pennsylvania’s initiative to improve the quality of child care has multiple services available through the Northeast Regional Key and their partners.  

• Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation offers site specific  professional development and technical assistance to link and bridge systems and service options on behalf of a child,.
• Keystone STARS is a state-wide initiative to improve, support and recognize the continuous quality improvement efforts of early learning and school-age care and education in Pennsylvania. By meeting standards of practice and professionalism child care facilities move through designations to the highest level known as a STAR 4 facility.
•  Low cost professional development opportunities designed to help early learning and school-age education professionals move upward through a career lattice. The NE Key in partnership with more than 80 instructors and organizations offers workshops, symposiums, conferences and also partners with institutes of higher education to fund credential and credit-bearing courses.
• Free onsite technical assistance offered to Keystone STARS facilities to assist in enhancing quality and moving to the next STAR level.
• STARS grants and awards assist regulated programs enhance the quality of children’s programs.
• The School-Age Child Care Project is designed to assist school-age facilities and practitioners with supports and resources geared toward school-age children.
• And the Infant/Toddler Project provides on-site support to Infant and Toddler classrooms. 
• The Northeast Regional Key support Line is where practitioners can call and speak with a Technical Assistance Manager.
• A weekly email, called The Key Connection, highlighting Regional Key and partner updates and new, upcoming professional development, opportunities, resource information and announcements.
• Technical Assistance Papers (TAP’s) with information on a variety of topics.

Child Care programs are encouraged to contact the Northeast Key at 800-528-7222 extension  to learn more about the services and opportunities available to the Early Learning community.  A special transition phone line has been set up for the 5 new counties – call 800-528-7222 extension 2320. 

CSC is a regional leader in early childhood education and family development, affecting the lives of 40,000 children annually. CSC believes all children deserve a chance to succeed in school, which begins in early childhood within a nurturing family.

Joan Benso, President and CEO of Pennsylvania Partnerships for Children, was keynote speaker. She addressed the research that supports quality early education as a foundation for achievement. She applauded the efforts especially of the Early Learning Coalition of the Lehigh Valley, composed of business and education leaders who champion early education through government policy and budgeting.

State senators Pat Brown and Lisa Boscola were joined by other Lehigh Valley legislators Rep. Ryan Mackenzie, Mike Schlossberg and Dan McNeil to applaud the work of the two honorees and presented them with state commendations. Field representatives for US Senators Bob Casey and Pat Toomey also presented commendations, Carol Obando-Derstine and Marta Gabriel, respectively.

Among others attending were Edward Donley, Dev Chanchani, Dr. Russell Mayo, James Martin, Jane Ervin, Dr. Karen Angello, Don Bernhard, Michana Johnson, and Kay Hughston.

Community Services for Children administers quality preschool and other early education services in a 13-county area including Lehigh and Northampton counties, affecting 40,000 children annually.

Through games, songs, experiments, crafts, and stories, children will explore what makes us human and how we’re alike and different from our animal friends, too.  Each session also focuses on how to keep ourselves healthy. The six weekly sessions run Monday – Friday, 9 am – noon.

Titles of the sessions are: Teeth and Claws, Scales, Feathers & Fur; Fight or Flight?; My Achey-Breaky Heart (and lungs); What’s the Sense of That!; It’s a Tiny World After All (Bugs and Babies); What’s on the Menu?

Each weekly session is $145. Child care is extra and is available before and after camp.

The camp will be held on the Donley Children’s Campus, Fowler Building, 1520 Hanover Ave, Allentown.

CSC is a regional leader in early childhood education and family development, affecting the lives of 40,000 children annually. CSC believes all children deserve a chance to succeed in school, which begins in early childhood within a nurturing family.

For additional information, contact abuss@cscinc.org; 610-437-6000, x 2112.

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I am struck by this question and I pose it to you for meditation: If you had millions of dollars, garnered either through pluck or luck, how would you spend it? Withdraw to a Pacific island or mountain retreat? Gather all the “toys” you could to enjoy? Party til the end of time?

Most of us won’t have millions to decide upon. Yet might we too follow their example within our capacity to share our blessings with our fellow man.

Dr. Seuss, pen name for Theodore Geisel, created the Cat in the Hat and other memorable characters to encourage early reading.  His birthday is March 2, celebrated annually nationwide to share the joy of reading.

Head Start of the Lehigh Valley, administered through Community Services for Children (CSC), prepares children from low income families for kindergarten through an emphasis on language and literacy development, health and nutrition, social/emotional growth, science, math and art. CSC is a regional leader in early childhood education and family development, affecting the lives of 40,000 children annually. CSC believes all children deserve a chance to succeed in school, which begins in early childhood within a nurturing family.

“NAEYC accreditation lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the best early learning experiences possible,” said Jane Ervin, CEO and President of CSC.

“We’re proud to have earned the mark of quality form NAEYC and to be recognized for our commitment to reaching the highest professional standards,” said Paula Margraf, Executive Vice President of CSC and Director of Head Start of the Lehigh Valley.

To earn NAEYC accreditation, Head Start of the Lehigh Valley went through an extensive self-study process measuring the program and its services against the 10 NAEYC early childhood program standards and more than 400 related accreditation criteria. The program received NAEYC accreditation after an on-site visit by NAEYC assessors to ensure the program meets each of the 10 program standards. NAEYC-accredited programs are also subject to unannounced visits during their accreditation, which lasts 5 years.

In the 25 years since NAEYC accreditation was established, it has become widely recognized sign of high quality early childhood education. More than 7000 programs are currently accredited by NAEYC – approximately 8% of all preschools and early childhood programs.

Community Services for Children is a regional leader in early childhood education and family development, affecting the lives of 40,000 children annually. CSC believes all children deserve a chance to succeed in school, which begins in early childhood within a nurturing family.

 Given for the first time in 1996, Community Services for Children established this prestigious award to acknowledge public service at the local, state, and/or national levels which has significantly improved the quality of life for children. Mr. and Mrs. Donley, who exemplify the spirit of the award, were the first recipients. We continue to honor  their example by naming the award for them.

 Chief Roger MacLean Chief MacLean of the Allentown Police Department has been a leading spokesman throughout our region and Pennsylvania promoting the importance of quality early childhood education as a deterrent of juvenile crime. The program is called “Fight Crime, Invest in Kids.” This anti-crime organization of over 5000 police chiefs, sheriffs, prosecutors and violence survivors across the country takes a hard look at the research about what prevents kids from becoming criminals and puts that information in the hands of policymakers and the general public. As such, Chief MacLean is a major proponent of quality early education and prevention of child abuse.

 Northampton County Medical Society Alliance The Alliance has partnered with CSC/Head Start of the Lehigh Valley for 15 years. Alliance members provide health-related instruction in the classrooms, educational materials, and annual financial donations to the Family Resource Fund (aka “Operation Heart Throb”). When they come into the classrooms, they do art activities with the children, lead them in gross motor activities, sing, read, provide the children with a healthy snack as well as a book related to the activity of the month. They sponsor special speakers to come speak with the children and parents, especially physicians, who talk about keeping their bodies healthy.

 In addition to the Donleys, past individual recipients include Mrs. Rebecca Gorton, Mrs. Ardath Rodale, Mr. and Mrs. Lee Butz, Mr. Kostas Kalogeropolous, Mrs. Patricia W. Levin, The Honorable Edward G. Rendell, Dr. Arthur L. Scott, Mr. Scott Fainor, Dr. Diane Scott, The Honorable Jeanette Reibman, Mr. L. Jack Bradt, Mr. Peter Carpino, Mrs. Marlene “Linny” Fowler, and Dr. and Mrs. Peter Likins.

 Past recipients of the Organization Award are Computer Aid, PPL Corporation, Education 2020!, St. Luke’s Hospital & Health Network, The Women’s Leadership Initiative of the United Way of the Greater Lehigh Valley; PNC Financial Services; Just Born, Inc; The Harry C. Trexler Trust; Bethlehem Steel Corporation; Agere Systems; Air Products & Chemicals, Inc; Lehigh Valley Health Network; CoreStates Bank; and Binney & Smith, Inc (now “Crayola”).

 For additional information, call Community Services for Children at 610-437-6000, x2113, or log onto www.cscinc.org/events.

 Community Services for Children is a regional leader in early childhood education and family development, affecting the lives of 40,000 children annually.