We have just heard from the National Association for the Education of Young Children that we were granted accreditation!  Please read below for details about this decision. 

      You will notice that in all but two areas we received “scores” of 100%, in fact in half the standards we received 100+% as we met emerging criteria and earned extra points!  There are a few areas in Curriculum and Teachers where we received suggestions for providing additional documentation of our practices in our portfolios and files resulting in scores of 88% and 86%.  Most importantly, the three classrooms that were observed – The Infant, Young Toddler and Preschool 4’s – received scores of 97%, 98% and 98%!

      All of our staff worked really hard to document and demonstrate the quality of the experiences we provide for children and families.  We are gratified to have earned this accreditation, particularly at the levels indicated below. 

May 27, 2009

Ms. Eileen Ward, Director
Children’s Community Development Center (#281424)
90 Hillspoint Road
Westport, CT 06880

Dear Ms. Ward:

Congratulations! Your program has achieved accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The administration, teaching staff, and families of Children’s Community Development Center are all to be congratulated for being one of the first programs in the country to earn the mark of quality represented by the reinvented NAEYC Accreditation system. On behalf of NAEYC, and specifically the NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation, I commend your program’s outstanding efforts in pursuing NAEYC Accreditation.

This letter includes information about the term of your NAEYC Accreditation as well as information about publicizing your accredited status. Attached to this letter you will find the Accreditation Decision Report that includes a summary of scores for each of the ten NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and suggestions for ongoing improvement by topic area based on the data collected during the site visit for use in your annual report.

TERM OF NAEYC ACCREDITATION

Your NAEYC Accreditation will be granted on May 31, 2009, and is valid until May 31, 2014.

To maintain NAEYC Accreditation, your program is required to maintain compliance with the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Criteria. Additionally all NAEYC Accredited programs are:

• Required to file an Annual Report and applicable fees on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th anniversary of the above Accreditation date;
• Required to report program altering changes to the NAEYC Academy within 90 days of the change;
• Eligible to be randomly selected for an unannounced site visit;
• Required to respond to formal complaints and adhere to NAEYC’s Complaint Policies and Procedures;
• Submit to additional verification by adhering to NAEYC’s Verification of Continued Compliance Policy.

Please, visit our website at http://www.naeyc.org/academy and your program record at http://program.naeyc.org for complete information and details on new policies, procedures and any announcements related to your NAEYC Accreditation.

PUBLICIZING NAEYC ACCREDITATION

In order to properly display your NAEYC Accredited status, the following information will be mailed to you in the coming weeks. The sample news release and camera ready logo will be posted in your program record (http://program.naeyc.org) for continued access.

• NAEYC Accreditation Certificate for public display.
• “Maintaining NAEYC Accreditation” flyer.
• Sample news release, so that you can publicize your NAEYC Accreditation (http://program.naeyc.org).

• Flyers for parents, describing what NAEYC Accreditation means (in sufficient quantity for your enrollment for the next 5 years).
• Identifying ribbons for you and your staff members to attach to a name badge when you attend conferences or public meetings.
• Camera-ready NAEYC Academy logo, which may be used freely on any printed materials such as stationery or brochures (http://program.naeyc.org).
• Samples of our new “NAEYC Accreditation: The Right Choice for Kids” brochures in English and Spanish.

Please be sure to carefully review this information and share it as relevant with your teaching staff, administration and families. We encourage you to regularly visit your program record at http://program.naeyc.org to keep your program information up-to-date and to stay current regarding new policies, procedures and updates that occur throughout the term of your NAEYC Accreditation.

Thank you for making the commitment to pursue NAEYC Accreditation. Working together, we can build public recognition and support for NAEYC Accreditation, the mark of quality in early childhood education and improve the lives of children and families across this nation. Now that you have achieved this mark of quality we look forward to continuing to work with you throughout your accreditation term in a process of continuous improvement, the hallmark of any accreditation system.

If you have any questions about this report, please contact Lynn Johnson at 800-424-2460, ext. 8333, or ljohnson@naeyc.org.

Sincerely,

 
Stephanie Olmore
Director, Program Assessment & Compliance
NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation

cc: Libby Rackliffe, Assistant Director (via e-mail)

 
NAEYC ACCREDITATION DECISION REPORT

Format of the Report

Summary: This table shows your program’s scores  for 1) each of the ten Program Standards, 2) each group observed during the site visit, 3) all required criteria, and 4) all Candidacy requirements. It also includes brief feedback on your Program Portfolio and Classroom Portfolio(s). To achieve NAEYC Accreditation, a program MUST:
• meet all Required Criteria; and
• meet at least 80% of assessed criteria for each program standard; and
• meet at least 70% of assessed criteria for each classroom/group observed; and
• continue to meet Candidacy requirements or be subject to further verification.

Program Standards with Areas for Ongoing Improvement: This section contains the Program Standards which met or exceeded the NAEYC Accreditation threshold of 80%. These contain topic areas for ongoing improvement.

Summary
Percentage of Met Criteria                                 By Program Standard:  Percentage of Met Criteria           For Each Classroom Observed: 
   
1. Relationships 100% Young Toddler 97%
2. Curriculum 88% Infant 98%
3. Teaching 100% Preschool 4 Years 98%
4. Assessment of Child Progress 100%  
5. Health 100+%*  
6. Teachers 86%*  
7. Families 100+%*  
8. Community Relationships 100+%*  
9. Physical Environment 100+%*  
10. Leadership and Management 100+%*  
   
Summary of Required Criteria  Candidacy Requirements 
   
1.B.09   Met License/License Exempt Status Met
3.C.02   Met Collaboration Met
3.C.04   Met Administrator Qualifications Met
5.A.03   Met Teacher Qualifications Met
5.A.12   Met Assistant Teacher Qualifications Met
10.A.02  Met  
10.B.04 Met  
 

Summary Continued
   
Program Portfolio Feedback  Classroom Portfolio(s) Feedback 

The NAEYC Academy commends your program for creating a Program Portfolio that thoroughly documents how the program’s policies and procedures meet the NAEYC Accreditation Criteria assessed.
  
The NAEYC Academy commends your program for creating Classroom Portfolio(s) that offer detailed and clear documentation of how your program’s classrooms meet the NAEYC Accreditation Criteria assessed.
Program Standards
1. RELATIONSHIPS
The NAEYC Academy commends your program for promoting positive relationships among all children and adults to encourage each child’s sense of individual worth and belonging as part of a community and to foster each child’s ability to contribute as a responsible community member.

Positive relationships are essential for developing personal responsibility and the capacity for self-regulation, for enabling constructive interactions with others, and for fostering academic functioning and mastery. Warm, sensitive, and responsive interactions help children develop a secure, positive sense of self and encourage them to cooperate with and respect others. Positive relationships also help children gain the benefits of instructional experiences and resources. Children who see themselves as highly valued are more likely to feel secure, thrive physically, get along with others, learn well, and feel part of a community.
 

2. CURRICULUM
The NAEYC Academy commends your program for implementing a curriculum that is consistent with its goals for children and promotes learning and development in each of the following areas: social, emotional, physical, language and cognitive.

A curriculum that draws on research assists teachers in identifying important concepts and skills as well as effective methods for fostering children’s learning and development. When informed by teachers’ knowledge of individual children, a well-articulated curriculum guides teachers so they can plan learning experiences that foster children’s growth across a broad range of developmental and content areas. A curriculum also helps ensure that the teacher is intentional in planning a daily schedule that (a) maximizes children’s acquisition of desired knowledge and skills through the effective use of time and materials and (b) offers opportunities for children to learn through play and structured activities individually and in groups according to their developmental needs and interests.

Topic area(s) for ongoing improvement:

2.E Curriculum Content Area for Cognitive Development: Early Literacy
2.G Curriculum Content Area for Cognitive Development: Science
2.L Curriculum Content Area for Cognitive Development: Social Studies
 
3. TEACHING
The Academy commends your program for using developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate and effective teaching approaches that enhance each child’s learning and development in the context of the program’s curriculum goals.

Teaching staff who purposefully use multiple instructional approaches optimize children’s opportunities for learning. These approaches include strategies that range from structured to unstructured and from adult-directed to child-directed. Children bring to learning environments different backgrounds, interests, experiences, learning styles, needs and capacities. Teachers’ consideration of these differences when selecting and implementing instructional approaches helps all children succeed. Instructional approaches also differ in their effectiveness for teaching different elements of curriculum and learning. For a program to address the complexity inherent in any teaching-learning situation, it must use a variety of effective instructional approaches. Whether one teacher works alone or whether a team works together, the instructional approach creates a teaching environment that supports children’s positive learning and development across all areas. 
4. ASSESSMENT OF CHILD PROGRESS
The NAEYC Academy commends your program for using ongoing, systematic, formal and informal assessment approaches to provide information on children’s learning and development. These assessments occur within the context of reciprocal communications with families and with sensitivity to the cultural contexts in which children develop. Assessment results are used to benefit children by informing sound decisions about children, teaching, and program improvement.

Teachers’ knowledge of each child helps them to plan appropriately challenging curricula and to tailor instruction that responds to each child’s strengths and needs. Further, systematic assessment is essential for identifying children who may benefit from more intensive instruction or intervention or who may need additional developmental evaluation. This information ensures that the program meets its goals for children’s learning and developmental progress and also informs program improvement efforts.

Topic area(s) for ongoing improvement:

4.C Identifying Children’s Interests and Needs, and Describing Children’s Progress
5. HEALTH
The NAEYC Academy commends your program for promoting the nutrition and health of children and protecting children and staff from illness and injury.

To benefit from education and maintain quality of life, children need to be as healthy as possible. Health is a state of complete physical, oral, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Children depend on adults to make healthy choices for them and to teach them to make healthy choices for themselves. Although some degree of risk taking is desirable for learning, a quality program prevents hazardous practices and environments that are likely to result in adverse consequences for children, staff, families, or communities.
 
6. TEACHERS
The NAEYC Academy commends your program for employing and supporting a teaching staff that has the educational qualifications, knowledge, and professional commitment necessary to promote children’s learning and development and to support families’ diverse needs and interests.

The NAEYC Academy commends your teachers and assistants who fully meet the criteria related to educational qualifications (6.A.04 and 6A.05) For those staff members who do not now fully meet the criteria, please encourage and provide support for staff to pursue ongoing training and education in the field of early childhood education and/or child development.

Children benefit most when their teachers have high levels of formal education and specialized early childhood professional preparation. Opportunities for teaching staff to receive supportive supervision and to participate in ongoing professional development ensure that their knowledge and skills reflect the profession’s ever-changing knowledge base.

Topic area(s) for ongoing improvement:

6.A Preparation, Knowledge, and Skills of Teaching Staff
6.B Teachers’ Dispositions and Professional Commitment
7. FAMILIES
The NAEYC Academy commends your program for the high level of compliance with this component. Recognizing the importance of a reciprocal relationship between families and programs is essential to ensure that programs are meeting the needs of the children and families that the program serves.

Young children’s learning and development are integrally connected to their families. Consequently, to support and promote children’s optimal learning and development, programs need to recognize the primacy of children’s families; establish relationships with families based on mutual trust and respect,; support and involve families in their children’s educational growth; and invite families to fully participate in the program.
 
Topic area(s) for ongoing improvement:

7.A Knowing and Understanding the Program’s Families
8. COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS
The NAEYC Academy commends your program for effectively establishing and maintaining reciprocal relationships with agencies and institutions that can support it in achieving its goals for the curriculum, health promotion, children’s transitions, inclusion, and diversity.

As part of the fabric of children’s communities, an effective program establishes and maintains reciprocal relationships with agencies and institutions that can support it in achieving its goals for the curriculum, health promotion, children’s transitions, inclusion, and diversity. By helping to connect families with needed resources, the program furthers children’s healthy development and learning.
9. PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT
The NAEYC Academy commends your program for creating an environment, both indoors and outdoors that fosters the growth and development of the children.

The program’s design and maintenance of its physical environment support high-quality program activities and services as well as allow for optimal use and operation. Well-organized, equipped, and maintained environments support program quality by fostering the learning, comfort, health, and safety of those who use the program. Program quality is enhanced by also creating a welcoming and accessible setting for children, families, and staff.
10. LEADERSHIP AND MANAGEMENT
The NAEYC Academy commends your program for administering a program efficiently and effectively, ensuring that all staff, children, and families are included. The way in which a program is administered will affect all of the interactions within the program.

Excellent programming requires effective governance structures, competent and knowledgeable leadership, as well as comprehensive and well-functioning administrative policies, procedures, and systems. Effective administration includes good communication among all involved persons, positive community relations, fiscal stability, and attention to the needs and working conditions of staff members. The program should be efficiently and effectively administered with attention to the needs and desires of children, families, and staff.
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