Photo: Associated Early Care and Education

Today we congratulate the center- and school-based early education programs in Massachusetts that earned accreditation or reaccreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children since June 1.

To those who earned accreditation or reaccreditation, NAEYC offers a marketing and communications tip: Spread the word to your local newspaper or other media outlet. Accredited programs can find a news release template in their program record. It’s a great way to publicize your accomplishment and draw attention to the importance of high-quality early learning settings.

NAEYC accreditation is a widely accepted proxy for quality, and Massachusetts boasts more NAEYC-accredited programs than any other state in the country.The Department of Early Education and Care includes accreditation in the standards for the state’s Quality Rating and Improvement System (QRIS), designed to assess program quality, provide incentives for programs to improve and offer valuable information for parents.

The rigorous NAEYC accreditation process measures 10 standards that range from curriculum to family engagement. Accredited programs use a research-based, developmentally appropriate curriculum that promotes children’s social, emotional, physical, language and cognitive growth. They support teachers’ professional development, promote children’s health and nutrition, use age-appropriate methods to assess children’s development and maintain collaborative relationships with parents and guardians.

Congratulations to the following 29 programs that earned accreditation or reaccreditation since June 1:

Boston: Bright Horizons at One International Place, Thomas J. Kenney Elementary School (Dorchester), John D. Philbrick Elementary School (Roslindale), Nathan Hale Elementary School (Roxbury)
Braintree: The Kids’ Space at Haemonetics
Brookline: The Apple Orchard School
Cambridge: Bigelow Cooperative Daycare Center, Radcliffe Child Care Centers,Technology Children’s Center @ Stata
Chicopee: Sgt. Robert R. Litwin School
Cohasset: South Shore Community Center Nursery School
Falmouth: Montessori Academy of Cape Cod
Franklin: Oak Street Elementary School
Mashpee: Kenneth C. Coombs kindergarten and pre-kindergarten
Medford: Child Development Center/The Educators Center
Methuen: Teeney Grammar School kindergarten
New Marlborough: Southern Berkshire Pre-Kindergarten Program
Norfolk: Norfolk Cooperative Preschool
Northampton: Smith Child Care Center
Salem: Salem State University Preschool Program
Scituate: Hatherly Elementary Kindergarten, Jenkins Elementary School, Wampatuck Elementary School full-day/half-day kindergarten
Sheffield: Southern Berkshire Pre-Kindergarten Program
Somerville: Tufts Educational Day Care Center
Warwick: Warwick Community School
Wellesley: Wellesley Hills Children’s Center
Westborough: Boroughs Jewish Community Center Preschool
Westport: Alice A. Macomber Primary School