Accreditation

What is accreditation?

Early childhood programs accredited by the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs have voluntarily undergone a comprehensive process of internal self-study and self assessment and have invited external professional review to verify compliance with the Academy’s Criteria for High Quality Early Childhood Programs in all ten NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards. A copy of the NAEYC Accreditation Performance Criteria can be obtained from the website at http://www.naeyc.org/academy

In accredited
programs, you will see:

* Frequent, positive, warm interactions among adults and children.

* Planned learning activities appropriate to children’s age and development, such as block building, painting, reading stories, dress-up, and active outdoor play.

* Specially trained teachers.

* Enough adults to respond to individual children.

* Many varied age-appropriate materials.

* A healthy and safe environment for children.

* Nutritious meals and/or snacks.

* Regular communication with parents, who are welcome visitors at all times.

* Effective administration.

* Ongoing, systematic evaluation.