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Johnston Community College Preschool Receives NAEYC Accreditation

October 10, 2002

Johnston Community College Preschool was recently granted accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). This prestigious recognition has been achieved by approximately 7% of early childhood programs nationwide - some 8,212 programs as of August 1, 2002, serving 726,756 children.

"Since moving into the new childcare center facility in the fall of 1998, one of our goals has been to move towards national accreditation. It was an instructional goal so that our program could provide the highest quality childcare facility to model for our JCC Early Childhood students," states JCC Preschool Director, Erin Smith. "The Partnership for Children of Johnston County (Smart Start) has been instrumental in providing funding resources to move us towards this achievement. Due to the collaboration with the Partnership, the preschool is one of the three components of the Child Care Provider Training Center project. This project has elevated the JCC preschool from simply an instructional lab school in the Early Childhood Department to a community resource.

We also would not have been able to achieve this national recognition without the support of all departments within Johnston Community College and the administration. It truly does take a village to raise a child."

NAEYC accreditation is a rigorous, voluntary process by which early childhood programs demonstrate that they meet national standards of excellence. Child care centers, preschools, kindergartens, and before and after school programs are eligible to seek NAEYC accreditation. Approximately 15,000 programs are engaged in seeking accreditation.

Programs seeking accreditation undergo an intensive self-study, collecting information from parents, teachers, administrators, and classroom observations. They receive an on-site visit, conducted by early childhood professionals especially trained by NAEYC, to validate their self-study results. All information is then independently reviewed by a team of national experts who grant or defer accreditation. When awarded, accreditation is valid for three years.

"The heart of NAEYC accreditation focuses on the child's experience," said Barbara Willer, spokesperson for NAEYC. The process carefully considers all aspects of a program including health and safety, staffing, staff qualifications, and physical environment. The greatest emphasis is on the children's relationships with the staff and how the program helps each child grow and learn intellectually, physically, socially, and emotionally."

According to Willer, research supports the value of accreditation for children. Children's language and social skills especially benefit from the better quality found in NAEYC-accredited programs. "These are critical areas for children's success in school as well as in life," states Willer.

NAEYC accreditation began in 1985, with the first program accredited in 1986. NAEYC is the nation's oldest and largest organization of early childhood professionals dedicated to improvement of quality early childhood education. NAEYC established accreditation in response to the growing number of American children spending large amounts of time in group settings away from home, and the uneven and often inadequate consumer protection afforded by state licensing of child care facilities.

Johnston Community College Preschool is located in the Allied Health Building on the main campus. The JCC Preschool serves 16 children ranging in age from 3 to 5 and is unique in that it is an instructional lab school; whereby, the College's Preschool serves as a model training site incorporating students in the Early Childhood Associate Degree program to assist with the care and instruction of the children. The JCC Preschool will now proudly display the NAEYC torch - the sign of NAEYC accreditation. Parents who look for the torch when choosing childcare or early education programs for their children will find programs which have made a commitment to excellence for young children and families.

For further information about the JCC Preschool, contact Erin Smith, director of JCC's Preschool at 209-2150.