Early childhood center receives accreditation
IVCC's Early Childhood Education Center was recently granted accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. This recognition has been achieved by approximately seven percent of the early childhood education programs nationwide.
Marilyn Worsley, assistant director-lead teacher, said, "We're glad to receive this recognition for the quality of our program."
NAEYC accreditation is a voluntary process by which early childhood programs demonstrate that they meet national standards of excellence. To achieve accreditation, the IVCC center had to undergo an intensive self-study, collecting information from parents, teachers, administrators, and classroom observations. Early childhood professionals, trained by NAEYC, visited the center to validate the self-study results. The information from these studies was then reviewed by a team of national experts.
Sallee Beneke, center director said: "This award represents a great deal of thoughtful work on the part of our staff and the families we serve. We collaborated to think about the strengths and areas that needed improvement at our center, and I think the result has been wonderful."
The accreditation is valid for three years.
"Receiving accreditation is a beginning, not an end in and of itself," Beneke said. "We plan to continue observing in the classroom, listening to staff and families, and planning for ongoing improvements in our program."
The IVCC center accepts children from three to five years of age.
The center is one of only four programs in the area that is accredited. Housed on IVCCs east campus in the Automotive Technology building, the center has been open since 1976.
The staff includes students enrolled in the Early Childhood Education program at IVCC along with an advisory board composed of faculty and instructors and parents of children in the program.