Hanscom CDC pursues re-accreditation

  • Published
  • By Rhonda Siciliano
  • 66th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
HANSCOM AFB, Mass. --  Hanscom's Child Development Center is joining other Air Force bases in seeking recognition as a leader in providing a safe, high quality learning environment for the children and families it serves.

"Our child development program provides quality, affordable and available child care for Airmen and their families," said Colleen Davis, Hanscom Child Development Center director. "One method of regulating our program and ensuring that we continue to provide that quality care is by having an outside accrediting body inspect our program against a set of rigorous early childhood standards."

The National Association for the Education of Young Children is the outside accrediting organization that the Air Force has selected to inspect and certify its 124 Air Force child development programs. Hanscom is one of the first Air Force bases to undergo the accreditation process under NAEYC's new standards that were recently implemented.

To earn re-accreditation, Hanscom is undergoing an extensive self-study process, measuring the program and its services against the 10 new NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and more than 400 related accreditation criteria.

The first step in the process is enrollment, which involves an extensive self assessment of the program. For the Hanscom CDC, the certification process began a year ago. "It's an intense process," Ms. Davis said. "We have a great program and the staff here is second to none. Everyone has been working very hard towards achieving this goal."

NAEYC requires child care providers to complete a four-step program before they can achieve accreditation. These requirements are designed to increase the accountability of the system for children, families and all customers of NAEYC accreditation. The heart of accreditation focuses on the child's experience.

The process carefully considers all aspects of a program, including health and safety, staffing, staff qualifications 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.

Hanscom is currently awaiting word on the candidacy package that was submitted in September as part of the four-step process leading up to accreditation.

"Research supports the value of accreditation for children," said Kristen Melvin, Training and Curriculum specialist. "The areas that we are focusing on will provide a critical foundation for children's success in school, as well as in life."

"This process isn't about changing everything we do, we're already well ahead of meeting most of the NAEYC standards with the current policies and procedures that we have in place," Ms. Melvin said. "We're looking at our practices, as well as our strengths and weaknesses; this process makes us accountable to ensure that we're doing exactly what we say we are going to do. We're analyzing everything carefully."

Ms. Davis said the accreditation process has really strengthened the center's relationships with the Hanscom community and the communities outside the base, with staff, and with the families that it serves.

"I especially want to thank our staff and our families for their patience, understanding and assistance. This past year has had a lot of challenges, not only with the accreditation process, but also from numerous staffing changes as well as several construction renovation projects," Ms. Davis said. "Everyone has really stepped up to help us make it through and I want them to know just how much we appreciate their efforts."

The final step in achieving accreditation is an on-site visit by NAEYC assessors to ensure that the program meets each of the 10 NAEYC program standards. NAEYC-accredited programs are also subject to unannounced visits during the accreditation process, which lasts for five years.