CHILDREN’S VILLAGE AT HOOVER RECEIVES NAEYC ACCREDITATION

The Children’s Village at Hoover has achieved accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. The Children's Village at Hoover is one of the first programs in the country to earn the mark of quality represented by the reinvented NAEYC Accreditation system. To achieve NAEYC accreditation, early childhood programs must volunteer to be measured against the most robust and rigorous national standards of education, health and safety. The accreditation is valid through 2012.

The program standards and accreditation criteria are based on a conceptual framework with four areas of focus. The primary focus area is Children, which incorporates five early childhood program standards, each advancing children's growth in realms of learning and development. This caliber of program quality depends on Teaching Staff, Partnerships, and Administration, the three additional focus areas, which encompass five additional program standards.

Collectively, the ten NAEYC Early Childhood Program standards represent essential, interlocking elements of high-quality programs for all children from birth through kindergarten. "All children" means all; it includes children with developmental delays and disabilities; children whose families are culturally and linguistically diverse; and children from diverse socio-economic groups. It also recognizes that all children have individual learning styles, strengths, and needs.

The program standards and criteria represent are evidence-based and grounded in six explicit values:

• The uniqueness of childhood as a developmental phase;
• The essential contribution to optimal child learning and development of reciprocal, respectful relationships with children and their families;
• The distinctive opportunity from birth through kindergarten to support children's intellectual, language, and social-emotional development;
• The essential role of partnerships with families and communities;
• The significance of a strong program infrastructure in providing high-quality care and education, and
• The importance of the quality of children's lives in the present, not only as preparation for the future.

These values, in combination with the evidence-based criteria, reiterate the Association's core belief that children are the ultimate beneficiaries of NAEYC Accreditation. In combination with other elements of NAEYC's reinvented early childhood program accreditation system, the early childhood program standards and accreditation criteria strive to ensure that young children in NAEYC-accredited programs receive consistently high-quality care and education that contributes to their positive learning and development.
For more information, please visit the NAEYC website at http://www.naeyc.org

TERM OF NAEYC ACCREDITATION

Your NAEYC Accreditation will be granted on August 31, 2007 and is valid until August 31, 2012.