CDC earns national accreditation Published Sept. 7, 2007 By 1 SOW Services Aug. 10, 2007 -- The Hurlburt Field Child Development Center is one of the first early childhood programs to earn accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children - the nation's leading organization of early childhood professionals. "We're proud to have earned the mark of quality from NAEYC and to be recognized for our commitment to reaching the highest professional standards," said Lisa LaConte, CDC director. "NAEYC accreditation lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the best care and early learning experiences possible." "The Hurlburt Field CDC has been an accredited program since 1993, however, in September 2006, NAEYC revised their accreditation standards making it harder for programs to become accredited, ensuring only the best of the best receive this prestigious credential," said Sharon Brewer, chief of family member programs. The Hurlburt Field CDC currently provides care for 244 children, ages six-weeks through five-years-old. The CDC is also a Voluntary Pre-Kindergarten provider for Florida which serves 48 children four-to-five-years old during the school year. "This goes to show we have an awesome team in the CDC!" said Maj. Paul Swenson, 1st Special Operations Services Squadron commander. "Not only were they one of the first to achieve this accreditation on a national basis, they were the first CDC in the Air Force to go through the process and they did it with flying colors." 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 8 percent of all preschools and other early childhood programs. The new standards reflect the latest research and best practices in early childhood education and development. To earn NAEYC accreditation in the new system, the Hurlburt Field Child Development Center went through an extensive self-study process, measuring the program and its services against the ten new NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and more than 400 related accreditation criteria. The program received NAEYC accreditation after an on-site visit by NAEYC assessors in May to ensure that the program met each of the ten NAEYC program standards. NAEYC accredited programs are also subject to unannounced visits during their accreditation. "Hurlburt Field's NAEYC accreditation is a sign that they are a leader in the national effort to invest in high-quality early childhood education, to help give all children a better start," said Mark Ginsberg, Ph.D., executive director of NAEYC. The NAEYC accreditation system was created in 1985 to set professional standards for early childhood education, and to help families identify high-quality preschools, child care centers and other early education programs. Programs are accredited by NAEYC for a five-year period