IAFC Ford Heights Early Learning Earns National Accreditation

Local program recognized among the top in the nation by earning NAEYC honor

Ford Heights, IL – Illinois Action for Children’s (IAFC) Ford Heights Early Learning Center has earned accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)—the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children.

NAEYC Accreditation is a rigorous and transformative quality-improvement system that uses a set of 10 research-based standards to collaborate with early education programs to recognize and drive quality-improvement in high-quality early learning environments. “We are so proud of the work that everyone here at Ford Heights has put into earning this honor from NAEYC, and to be recognized for reaching the highest professional standards in caring for and teaching the children and families that mean so much to all of us,” said Janet Parker, Site Director at IAFCs Ford Heights Early Learning Center.

The Ford Heights Early Learning Center is one of four Early Learning programs that IAFC operates in Chicago’s south suburbs, serving 69 of the community’s highest-need children and their families. The site serves 16 two-years-olds and 53 children ages three-to-five through a philosophy that all children deserve to be ready for Kindergarten.

To earn NAEYC Accreditation, IAFCs Ford Heights Early Learning Center went through an extensive self-study and quality-improvement process, followed by an on-site visit by NAEYC Assessors to verify and ensure that the program met each of the 10 program standards, and hundreds of corresponding individual criteria. NAEYC-accredited programs are always prepared for unannounced quality-assurance visits during their accreditation term, which lasts for five years.

In the 30 years since NAEYC Accreditation was established, it has become a widely recognized sign of high-quality early childhood education. More than 7,000 programs are currently accredited by NAEYC—less than 10 percent of all child care centers, preschools, and kindergartens nationally achieve this recognition.

“NAEYC-Accredited programs bring our definitions of excellence for early childhood education to life each day,” said Kristen Johnson, senior director of Early Learning Program Accreditation at NAEYC. “Earning NAEYC Accreditation makes IAFCs Ford Heights, IL Early Learning Center an exemplar of good practice for families and the entire community.”

For more information about NAEYC Accreditation, visit the NAEYC website.

To learn more about IAFCs Early Learning Programs, visit the IAFC website.

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