Accreditations and Awards

Special Care is a United Way affiliate and is accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).  Regular program assessments from these organizations allow Special Care to maintain and continue to improve the success of our programs.  Accreditation requires extensive studies and assessments of Special Care's total program every three years.  NAEYC administers the nation's largest professionally sponsored, voluntary accreditation system for all types of early childhood centers and schools and has extremely strict and demanding guidelines, each of which must be achieved in order to receive certification.  Health and safety, physical environment, teacher-student interaction, child development curriculum, therapy programs, staff qualifications, administration, and nutrition and food service are all reviewed during accreditation.  NAEYC places special emphasis on the quality of interactions among teachers and children and the developmental appropriateness of the curriculum and facility.  NAEYC also requires demonstrated commitment to quality programs for children and their families.

In addition to extensive self-studies, NAEYC's certification program includes on-site validation visits by specialists within each area.  Special Care's NAEYC assessments have been consistently positive, and we have been accredited since 1992.  Special Care has also scored in the top 1% on the following rating scales administered by The Center for Early Childhood Professional Development:  School-Age Children Environmental Rating Scale (SACERS); Infant Toddler Environmental Rating Scale (ITERS); and Early Childhood Rating Scale (ECERS).  In addition, Special Care has also been selected as 1 of 17 model observation sites for The Center of Early Childhood Professional Development.  Special Care has also achieved the highest rating available (3-star) by the Department of Human Services' Office of Childcare.