BRATTLEBORO — Early Education Services in Brattleboro and Westminster has earned renewed accreditation for the Canal Street and Westminster Head Start programs from the National Association for the Education of Young Children, the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children.
NAEYC Accreditation is considered a rigorous and transformative quality-improvement system that uses a set of 10 research-based standards to collaborate with early education programs to recognize and drive quality-improvement in high-quality early learning environments.
“We’re proud to have earned this mark of quality from NAEYC once again, and to be recognized for our commitment to reaching the highest professional standards,” said EES Executive Director Deb Gass in a statement.
Early Education Services serves as the region’s Head Start, Early Head Start and Parent Child Center. Services include: Head Start and Early Head Start classrooms, Early Head Start Home Visiting, the Welcome Baby Program, playgroups, the Dedicated Dads program, Teddy Bear Teas, a monthly dental clinic for children 0–3, information and referral services to connect families with area resources, support groups, and parent education classes.
To earn NAEYC Accreditation, EES went through an extensive self-study and quality-improvement process, followed by an on-site visit by NAEYC assessors to verify and ensure that the program met each of the 10 program standards, and hundreds of corresponding individual criteria.
NAEYC-accredited programs are always prepared for unannounced quality assurance visits during their accreditation term, which lasts for five years.
In the 30 years since NAEYC Accreditation was established, it is said to have become a widely recognized sign of high-quality early childhood education. More than 6,000 programs in the United States are currently accredited by NAEYC Less than 10 percent of all child care centers, preschools, and kindergartens nationally achieve this recognition.
“NAEYC accredited programs have committed to a process that takes time, energy and dedication to complete,” said Alissa Mwenelupembe, senior director of Early Learning Program Accreditation. “Early Education Services has demonstrated their commitment to young children and their families.”
For more information about NAEYC Accreditation, visit NAEYC.org.
