University of Southern Maine

News Releases

USM Child And Family Centers Earn National NAEYC Accreditation

July 23, 2008

For more information contact:                       
Lori Freid Moses, Director
USM Child and Family Centers
207-780-4125; lmoses@usm.maine.edu

USM Child and Family Centers are among the first early childhood programs in the nation to earn accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) under the organization’s new, more rigorous review process.

The achievement of accreditation, combined with additional teacher training and related initiatives, qualified USM Child and Family Centers to reach the highest level (Step 4) of Maine’s  new “Quality for ME” rating system.  By being at the top level, USM Child and Family Centers and programs like it earn a “Certificate of Quality” which provides parents with a double state tax credit.

“I am so proud of the teachers who put in hundreds of hours learning and implementing the new standards and documenting evidence that the standards have been met,” said Lori Freid Moses, director of USM Child and Family Centers. “We are also grateful to USM and our families for the support that allowed us to achieve this goal. NAEYC accreditation lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the best care and early learning experiences possible.” 

USM Child and Family Centers, with facilities on the Portland and Gorham campuses,  serve 85 to 90 children of USM students, faculty and staff.  In the summer, the Gorham center also has some openings for children of community members.

To earn NAEYC Accreditation in the new system, USM Child and Family Centers went through an extensive self-study process, measuring the program and its services against the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and more than 400 related criteria. NAEYC-accredited programs are also subject to unannounced visits during their accreditation, which lasts for five years.

In the 20 years since NAEYC Accreditation was established, it has become a widely recognized sign of high-quality early childhood education.  More than 11,000 programs, serving one million young children, are currently accredited by NAEYC - approximately eight percent of all preschools and other early childhood programs. 

For more information, call the USM Child and Family Centers at 780-4125.

For more information on the NAEYC accreditation, go to:
http://www.naeyc.org/accreditation/

For more information on Quality for ME go to:
http://www.state.me.us/dhhs/ocfs/ec/occhs/qualityforme.htm

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