Installation Child, Youth Services officials recently announced one of the post's child development centers has received its national accreditation.
"We are thrilled to share with you that Scales (Child Development Center) is nationally accredited! We received the NAEYC accreditation decision and we did it," wrote Sunny Bolton, Fort Jackson's Child, Youth Services coordinator, in an email to patrons of the facility July 5.
NAEYC, or the National Association for the Education of Young Children, is the accrediting body for all Army Child Development Centers who are required by public law to be nationally accredited. The Department of Defense requires national accreditation for a CDC to be receive certification or they facilities won't be able to keep their doors open.
Bolton characterized the accreditation as a "tedious" year-long process that brought all levels of the CDC's together including parents, teachers, children and managers.
The process "is team oriented -- classroom teams, trainer teams, management teams must all come together to complete program and classroom portfolios that meet standards as defined by NAEYC," she said.
Getting reaccredited has also increased the facility's staff energy.
The accreditation "shows how hard everyone has worked," said Jamillah Manigo, director of Scales CDC. "It has boosted employee morale." It boosted workers' confidence levels as well.
The process is rooted in best practices and includes personal observations by NAEYC validators. Scales CDC had 10 one-hour classroom observations where the validator watched the faculty's "every move so they could ensure the program was meeting the strict NAEYC program criteria and standards," Bolton said.
The rigorous standards required by national accreditation help to increase the quality of care and improve mission readiness, Bolton added.
"Once a program meets the standards, the quality of care increases," she said. "Programs work hard to ensure the standards are met year round to ensure the quality programming is sustained long after a validation visit."
This increases the Army's readiness because it allows Soldiers to focus on training and not their child's care.
"It is critical to the mission on Fort Jackson that the CYS programs offer top notch, quality childcare," Bolton concluded. "National accreditation lets CYS patrons know that they are getting quality childcare every day -- the parents can go to work and focus on their mission because CYS is there to support them with safe, quality childcare."
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