Goodfellow Child Development Center is nationally accredited

  • Published
  • By Maj. Clinton Ross
  • 17th Mission Support Squadron commander
GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The Goodfellow Air Force Base Child Development Center recently received the honor of being the tenth Air Force base (third in AETC) to be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

According to the Wall Street Journal, "The primary gauge of quality has been accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children... whose seal of approval is regarded as the gold standard by parents, educators and facilities."

This is a national certification program that identifies exceptional child care programs and sets the standard for quality care for children in America. The CDC, through the efforts of its dedicated staff, has diligently maintained NAEYC accreditation since 1991. In December 2006, the standards for this accreditation were enhanced to a higher level of scrutiny.

In the United States and overseas there were nearly 10,000 NAEYC accredited child care centers. However, as of Sep. 30, 2007, only 645 of these have managed to become accredited using the new standards. In Texas, there are only 18 centers that have achieved accreditation under these new expectations.

The Goodfellow CDC completed the one year process and became accredited on Oct. 31. The accreditation extends to Oct. 31, 2012. The CDC scored "outstanding" in all ten of the standards/criteria. In fact, in seven of the criteria, the CDC scored 100+ (the plus indicates the center is already meeting the 2010 "emerging practices" expectations); in two of the criteria the CDC scored 100 and in one criterion the CDC scored 92.

"This significant achievement and overall scoring is a direct result of the hard work and dedication of the entire CDC staff," said Col. Ada Conlan, 17th Mission Support Group commander. "The flight chief, Ginger Moore, director Marilyn Stewart and trainers Susan Clark and Terry Shaw spent countless hours formulating a package in excess of 360 pages in achieving this mark of excellence."

The Goodfellow Child Development Center provides quality, affordable and available child care for Airmen and their families. One method of regulating the program and ensuring quality care is the mandated requirement to have an outside accrediting body inspect the program against a set of rigorous early childhood standards.

The phased-in and methodical approach to accomplishing the new NAEYC standards has provided Air Force child development programs a solid foundation for continuing to provide quality child care for Air Force members.

During the evaluation, the CDC must provide documentation that the program has been inspected by local fire and health authorities, that it has complied with state and federal laws concerning background checks for staff, and that it does not employ any individual convicted of a crime involving sexual abuse or child abuse or neglect.

In addition, the program must provide information to families about state licensing requirements and inform families that the program is voluntarily meeting these requirements.

Specifically, the Goodfellow CDC excelled in the 10 NAEYC quality standards, which foster all areas of child development.

These criteria include positive relationships, curriculum, effective teaching approaches, ongoing assessments, nutrition and health, qualified teaching staff, family support, community resources, healthy physical environment and high-quality experiences for their children.