Accreditations
Ebenezer currently has several of its sites accredited and are working towards the goal of having all locations achieve this standard. Accreditation is a voluntary process designed to improve the quality of early care and education programs. Accreditation systems require early care and education programs to meet standards that exceed minimum State regulatory requirements. Achieving accreditation involves extensive self-study and validation by professionals outside the program to verify that quality standards are met. Research has demonstrated that accreditation positively impacts early care and education program quality, including benefits to children, staff, and families. A number of organizations have developed accreditation systems to recognize early care and education programs that generally meet higher standards than are required by State regulations. Two examples of organizations with accreditation systems are listed below.
- National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education Programs (NAC)
National Association of Child Care Professionals (NACCP): naccp.org
NACCP is a membership organization for child care owners, directors, and administrators, and it manages NAC. The NAC standards, which cover children birth through school-age, include the following components: program philosophy and goals, health and safety, administration, parent communication, curriculum, and interaction between staff and children. Additional information about NAC is available on the Web at www.naccp.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=5.
- National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)naeyc.org
Founded in 1926, NAEYC is the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children with more than 100,000 members and a national network of nearly 450 local, State, and regional NAEYC Affiliates. In 1985, NAEYC established a national, voluntary accreditation system to set professional standards for early childhood education programs and to help families identify high-quality programs. The accreditation system is administered by the NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation.
Information about the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Performance Criteria is available on the Web at naeyc.org/accreditation/050415.asp. Additional information about NAEYC accreditation is available on the Web at naeyc.org/accreditation/academy.asp.

