Early Learning Center Retains Accreditation
The Early Learning Center at Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, has retained its accreditation as a National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) Academy for Early Childhood Program—a standard the center has maintained since its initial accreditation in 2005.
“There is a major component to this accreditation that is worth noting—participation is voluntary,” said Eunice Moore, director of the Early Learning Center. “We are committed to providing the highest quality of care possible to the children and families who we serve, and we want to ensure that standard of care is maintained year after year.”
NAEYC requires an early childhood program to complete four steps to achieve its initial accreditation. Once accredited, programs are required to submit annual reports, maintain changes in NAEYC standards and criteria, and are even subject to random, unannounced on-site visits. NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood accreditation requirements were developed with input from early childhood educators and are designed to increase the accountability of the system for children and their families.
The Penn State Behrend Early Learning Center opened in the fall of 1993 and has been in its current location in Knowledge Park since 2001. The center provides services for children between 6 weeks and 6 years of age with staff-to-child ratios that are better than those required by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Penn State Erie, The Behrend College, is a comprehensive residential college offering 34 bachelor’s, six associate, four pre-professional and two graduate degree programs with 22 minors to more than 4,600 students. Focused on providing a student-centered environment, Penn State Behrend connects its students to a major research and land-grant institution on a campus enriched by more than 110 clubs and organizations, 21 NCAA varsity teams and 19 intramural sports. Penn State Behrend is named in recognition of a donation by Mary Behrend, widow of Ernst Behrend, who founded the Hammermill Paper Co. in Erie in 1898. The Behrend family lived on the 400-acre Glenhill Farm, which is the core of the Penn State Behrend campus today. For more information, visit behrend.psu.edu.