Blackburn's early childhood education receives accreditation

Another elementary school in the Independence School District has received recognition for its early childhood education program.

The Blackburn Early Education Program is the latest program to earn accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.

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 Pam Kabrick, quality assurance manager for the early childhood program. “NAEYC accreditation lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the best care and early learning experiences possible.”

Several requirements must be met to earn national accreditation. These include a self study process that measures the program and its services against 10 new NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards as well as more than 400 accreditation criteria. These standards include information on relationships between children and adults; curriculum; teaching practices; the assessment of a child’s progress; nutrition and health standards; the employment and support of a teaching staff that has the qualifications, knowledge and professional commitment needed to support a child’s development; maintaining a collaborative relationship with each family; community relationships; the learning environment and leadership and management within the early childhood program.

Once those requirements were completed, NAEYC assessors conducted an on-site visit to ensure that the program is meeting each standard. NAEYC-accredited programs are also subject to unannounced visits during the accreditation period, which lasts five years.

More than 11,000 programs have been accredited through the NAEYC since it was created in 1985. It is a voluntary process that has widely become recognized as a sign of “high-quality early childhood education. The new standards, created in 2006, emphasize the best techniques in early childhood and development and hold early childhood programs to higher standards.

Blackburn joins several other area schools that have also received accreditation in recent years. They include:

Independence – Christian Ott Elementary, Independence Head Start/Hanthorn Family Learning Center, Mill Creek Elementary, Randall Elementary, Santa Fe Trail Elementary, Spring Branch Elementary, Sycamore Hills Elementary and William Southern Elementary.

Blue Springs – Cub Care Learning Center at Hall-McCarter.