Date:  October 2, 2002
Contact: Irene Cromer
(703) 791-8720

Gar-Field High School’s Child Development Learning Center was recently granted accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  This recognition has been achieved by only seven percent of early childhood programs nationwide.  Gar-Field High School is the only high school based Head Start/Early Childhood Education program in the Commonwealth of Virginia to receive this distinction. 

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. 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.

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 of this information is 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,” says 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,” says Willer.  

Gar-Field Child Development Learning Center is located at Gar-Field High School and serves seventeen Head Start children during the morning and twenty children from the community in the afternoon.  Children range in age from three to five years old.  Prince William County Public Schools has three other accredited sites, at Minnieville Elementary School, West Gate Elementary School and Triangle Elementary School.  The Gar-Field Child Development Learning Center will now proudly display the NAEYC torch, the sign of NAEYC accreditation.  The accreditation will be awarded at a ceremony scheduled for October 11, 2002 at Gar-Field High School.