Two early childcare education facilities are the first in Whitestone and Flushing to be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).
Recently, the NAEYC bestowed the prestigious recognition on the Kiddie Academy of Whitestone and the Kiddie Academy of Flushing, an honor less than 10 percent of all child care centers, preschools and kindergartens nationally have achieved.
The Academies are the first learning programs in Whitestone and Flushing to receive the accreditation, which will last for five years.
Established in 1926, the NAEYC has been the nation’s leading organization of early childhood professionals and has been working with early learning programs in the United States for over 30 years to “implement best practices and develop a consistent understanding of how to achieve and maintain high quality.”
“Since opening, we have aspired to achieve the highest educational standards,” said Olga Carucci, owner of both Kiddie Academies. “Achieving NAEYC accreditation is a proud moment for us, as we can now highlight the fact that we’re operating against the organization’s high standards in early childhood education to offer parents unparalleled education and care.”
The Kiddie Academies of Whitestone and Flushing are part of the 200 academies in 27 states that currently operate. The rigorous process to achieve the NAEYC accreditation involved an extensive self-study process, which measured both of the programs and their services against more than 400 related accreditation criteria and a set of 10 research-based early childhood program standards.
Standards for judging were created with contributions from experts and educators from across the country and are grouped into 10 areas: relationships with children, curriculum, teaching approaches, child assessment, nutrition and health, staff qualifications, relationship with children’s families, relationship with the community, physical environment, and program leadership and management.
“High-quality early childhood education is directly linked to better cognitive function and language development,” said Richard Peterson, vice president of education at Kiddie Academy. “This accreditation process is a powerful tool to set benchmarks for educational excellence and improving program quality.”
For more information about the Kiddie Academy of Whitestone or its national accreditation, please contact Director Judy Martinez at 718-747-5555 or whitestone@kiddieacademy.net. For more information about the Kiddie Academy of Flushing or its national accreditation, please contact Director Eleftheria Karam at 718-888-9499 or flushing@kiddieacademy.net.
