Only 11 percent of early childhood

programs in Georgia and seven percent nationwide have achieved this distinction.

The Sheltering Arms J.F. Beavers

Center in College Park and The Sheltering Arms Harper Center near Hapeville

become the first preschools in their communities to earn NAEYC accreditation.

Sheltering Arms operates 15 accredited child development centers in metro

Atlanta, with three more centers in the accreditation process.

"NAEYC Accreditation is

the Academy Award of early childhood education. We are honored to be recognized

for providing the kind of quality education and care that every child

needs and deserves," said Bernice Paschal, director of Sheltering

Arms' Harper Center. Tarsha Hall, director of Sheltering Arms J.F. Beavers

Center, added, "Becoming accredited means our program measures up

to the nation's highest standards of excellence for the education and

safety of young children."

The NAEYC accreditation process

begins with a rigorous evaluation of all aspects of the program, including

health and safety, staffing, staff qualifications, curriculum, parent

involvement, administration, and physical environment. The greatest emphasis

is on the children's relationships with the staff and how the program

helps each child grow and learn intellectually, physically, socially,

and emotionally. NAEYC sends specially trained early childhood professionals

for on-site observations to validate the results of the evaluation.

These validators then make

a report to a national commission of experts who independently review

the evaluation and grant or defer accreditation. According to Barbara

Willer, a spokesperson for NAEYC, research shows that children's language

and social skills benefit from the better quality found in NAEYC-accredited

programs. "These are critical areas for children's success in school

as well as in life," said Willer.

In 1999, the Harper and J.F.

Beavers Centers, both part of the nation's Head Start program, joined

the Sheltering Arms system.

Since then, the centers achieved

licensure for the first time, expanded from a school-year calendar to

full-day, full-year services, and began and completed the accreditation

process. Because of these accomplishments, in 2002 Sheltering Arms was

named a Program of Achievement by the National Head Start Association

(NHSA), one of only 11 programs in the nation to receive the award since

NHSA began recognizing exemplary programs in 1994.

In 2003 and 2004, Sheltering

Arms will move faculty of these centers and two others into new expanded

state-of-the-art facilities serving East Point, College Park, Union City

and Fairburn.

These new centers will serve

more than 1,000 children, ages 6 weeks to 8 years old, with affordable,

quality preschool, child care and Georgia PreK, as well as Head Start.

The expansion is being funded through generous support from Smart Start

Georgia, Head Start, the Coca-Cola Foundation, the UPS Foundation, Bank

of America, and others.

Founded in 1888, Sheltering

Arms is metro Atlanta's largest nonprofit child development agency, serving

more than 3,400 children each year with quality early childhood education

and comprehensive family support. Sheltering Arms' neighborhood centers

serve working families of all income levels by providing government child

care subsidies and income-based scholarships. Sheltering Arms, a United

Way funded agency, has been nationally recognized for its success in preparing

children for school success.

For information on Sheltering

Arms Child Development and Family Support, please call 404-523-2767 or

visit HtmlResAnchor www.shelteringarmsforkids.com. For information about

NAEYC, visit HtmlResAnchor www.naeyc.org or call 800-424-2460.