Herring Brook Day School Gains NAEYC Accreditation Scituate school achieves national recognition for early childhood education Herring Brook Day School has earned accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) - the nation's leading organization of early childhood professionals. Operated by Christ Lutheran Church on Route 3A in Scituate, and housed within its facilities, Herring Brook Day School now joins a select group of pre-schools around the country that have been evaluated and certified for the excellence of their early childhood programs. "We believe the NAEYC standard is especially meaningful because it is the definitive gold seal of quality and recognizes our commitment to the highest professional standards," says Helyn Bailey, Herring Brook's Director.  This lets families in our community know that children in our program are getting the very best care and constant exposure to exceptional early learning experiences." According to Mark Ginsberg, Ph.D., executive director of NAEYC, accreditation has emerged as the acknowledged benchmark of excellence in the field. "In recent years, we've seen a growing number of child care and preschool programs earning NAEYC Accreditation," he says. "By earning accreditation, Herring Brook has become a leader in a national effort to raise the quality of early childhood education, and to help give all children a better start." The goal of NAEYC is to set professional standards for early childhood education, and to help families identify high-quality child care and early education programs.  To earn NAEYC's accreditation a school conducts an intensive and comprehensive self-study to determine how well it meets NAEYC's standards.  After any necessary improvements are made the school is observed by independent, professional validators, Their assessment is then reviewed by an NAEYC panel at the national level.  NAEYC carefully evaluates schools based on curriculum, teacher qualifications, class size, health and safety standards, environment and other areas. The gold standard of approval is NAEYC accreditation ; valid for a five year period with annual reviews. "Part of  the reason we have reached such a high level of compliance with NAEYC is because we have always incorporated their professional guidelines into our program, says Herring Brook's Helyn Bailey. By continuing to enrich and expand our programs and services, we have steadily evolved into one of the premiere day school facilities on the South Shore.  If you're looking for quality education and child care with no waiting lists, look no further.   Our programs are rich with materials and continuous opportunities for academic achievement, entertainment, friendship and growth.  Every staff member is a fully trained, certified, and experienced professional, but more than that -- they are warm, loving, talented teachers who are truly gifted in their work and interactions with young children.  We also enhance our programs with visiting professionals for enrichment in areas such as music, fine arts, health & hygiene, and literacy. "Achieving accreditation has been a lengthy, but valuable, growth process in which we've evaluated every aspect of our program, measured ourselves against some very demanding professional standards, strengthened our programs, and committed to ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement. "We are extremely proud to receive national NAYEC accreditation and to help raise the bar of quality expected in early childhood programs." This article was published in local newspapers (Patriot Ledger & Mariner) when Herring Brook received national accreditation.  It tells you a little bit about the accreditation process and what it means to be accredited.  According to Parents Magazine Choosing the Right Preschool Feb 2007, The gold standard of approval is accreditation by the National Association for the Education of Young Children. Only about 8 percent of U.S. preschools are currently accredited.