Friday, May 2, 2003

Local education centers granted accreditation

Two South Fulton early childhood education centers operated by Sheltering Arms Child Development and Family Support have been granted accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Only 11 percent of early childhood programs in Georgia and seven percent nationwide have achieved this distinction.

The Sheltering Arms J.F. Beavers Center in College Park and The Sheltering Arms Harper Center near Hapeville become the first preschools in their communities to earn NAEYC accreditation. Sheltering Arms operates 15 accredited child development centers in metro Atlanta, with three more centers in the accreditation process.

"NAEYC Accreditation is the Academy Award of early childhood education. We are honored to be recognized for providing the kind of quality education and care that every child needs and deserves," said Bernice Paschal, director of Sheltering Arms' Harper Center. Tarsha Hall, director of Sheltering Arms J.F. Beavers Center, added, "Becoming accredited means our program measures up to the nation's highest standards of excellence for the education and safety of young children."

The NAEYC accreditation process begins with a rigorous evaluation of all aspects of the program, including health and safety, staffing, staff qualifications, curriculum, parent involvement, administration, 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. NAEYC sends specially trained early childhood professionals for on-site observations to validate the results of the evaluation.

These validators then make a report to a national commission of experts who independently review the evaluation and grant or defer accreditation. According to Barbara Willer, a spokesperson for NAEYC, research shows that children's language and social skills 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," said Willer.

In 1999, the Harper and J.F. Beavers Centers, both part of the nation's Head Start program, joined the Sheltering Arms system.

Since then, the centers achieved licensure for the first time, expanded from a school-year calendar to full-day, full-year services, and began and completed the accreditation process. Because of these accomplishments, in 2002 Sheltering Arms was named a Program of Achievement by the National Head Start Association (NHSA), one of only 11 programs in the nation to receive the award since NHSA began recognizing exemplary programs in 1994.

In 2003 and 2004, Sheltering Arms will move faculty of these centers and two others into new expanded state-of-the-art facilities serving East Point, College Park, Union City and Fairburn.

These new centers will serve more than 1,000 children, ages 6 weeks to 8 years old, with affordable, quality preschool, child care and Georgia PreK, as well as Head Start. The expansion is being funded through generous support from Smart Start Georgia, Head Start, the Coca-Cola Foundation, the UPS Foundation, Bank of America, and others.

Founded in 1888, Sheltering Arms is metro Atlanta's largest nonprofit child development agency, serving more than 3,400 children each year with quality early childhood education and comprehensive family support. Sheltering Arms' neighborhood centers serve working families of all income levels by providing government child care subsidies and income-based scholarships. Sheltering Arms, a United Way funded agency, has been nationally recognized for its success in preparing children for school success.

For information on Sheltering Arms Child Development and Family Support, please call 404-523-2767 or visit HtmlResAnchor www.shelteringarmsforkids.com. For information about NAEYC, visit HtmlResAnchor www.naeyc.org or call 800-424-2460.