The Richard M. Guon Child Care Center has been certified by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. This means that the largest association of early childhood educators recognizes the center as being committed to providing high-quality educational services to young children and their families. While the process examines all aspects of the child care program – including health and safety, teacher qualifications, and administration – the focus is on interactions between teachers and children, and the quality of the child's experience.

To earn accreditation, programs comply with national standards of quality that go well beyond state health and safety licensing requirements. The NAEYC accreditation criteria address all aspects of an early childhood education program, including:

• Teacher qualifications and development
• Teacher-to-child ratios
• Teacher/child and teacher/family relationships
• Curriculum and Child Assessment
• Physical environment
• Health and safety
• Community Relationships

A program begins the accreditation process with an extensive self-assessment to determine how well it meets these criteria. After the program makes the necessary improvements, it is observed by early childhood professionals, and then reviewed by a national commission of experts in child care and early education. Early childhood programs that substantially comply with the NAEYC guidelines are accredited for a five-year period.

NAEYC accreditation has become widely recognized as a leading measure of quality in early education, and in recent years the number of programs earning accreditation has grown significantly. There are more than 8,000 NAEYC-accredited child care centers, preschools, kindergartens and other early childhood programs – serving nearly three-quarters of a million young children – and many other programs working toward accreditation. However, while NAEYC accreditation is growing, most early childhood programs are not yet accredited.

Accreditation allows you to feel well assured that your child will be in a healthy, safe, educationally stimulating environment while they are attending the Richard M. Guon Child Care Center.