The primary gauge of quality has been accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children . . . whose seal of approval is regarded as the gold standard by parents, educators and facilities.
– The Wall Street Journal, March 24, 2006
Play Groups has been accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) since 1997. Founded in 1926, NAEYC is the world’s largest organization working on behalf of children. NAEYC is dedicated to improving the well-being of all young children, with particular focus on the quality of educational programs and developmental services for children from birth through age 8.
The NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation administers a national, voluntary accreditation system to help raise the quality of all types of preschools and child care programs. Since the system began in 1985, NAEYC accreditation has provided a powerful tool through which early childhood professionals and families can evaluate programs, compare them with professional standards and work together to strengthen programs through ongoing evaluation and improvement.
In order to earn NAEYC accreditation, a program must demonstrate substantial compliance with more than 800 individual criteria contained in ten Early Childhood Program Standards. In 2008 Play Groups became the first early childhood program in Suffolk County to earn accreditation under new, highly-rigorous standards developed by the NAEYC.
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1997
Achieved accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children for the first time -
2008
Earned our third reaccreditation by NAEYC, becoming the first program on Long Island to do so under a set of new, highly-rigorous standards -
2013
Met 98% of all criteria randomly observed by NAEYC accreditors during our fourth reaccreditation cycle -
2017
Looking forward to celebrating 20 years of NAEYC accreditation when our fifth cycle begins
