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William Paterson University’s Child Development Center has just earned accreditation from the National Association for Education of Young Children (NAEYC), the highest level of accreditation in the field. After a vigorous 18-month review process, the Center—which is housed in William Paterson’s College of Education and serves children from ages 2 and a half through kindergarten—has been granted NAEYC accreditation for the next five years.
“NAEYC accreditation is the gold standard for early childhood education in the United States. With our Center being part of a university that has a long tradition of educating the state’s teacher workforce, our standards for the Center’s curriculum and personnel are very high; we strive to be the best. To be recognized by NAEYC is very affirming of our hard work and dedication,” says Amy Ginsberg, dean of William Paterson University’s College of Education.
NAEYC-Accredited programs must meet ten Early Learning Program Standards, which are research-based best practices for young children’s development and learning that were crated with input from experts and educators across the nation.
Among those standards are promoting positive relationships for all children and adults to encourage each child’s sense of individual worth, establishing and maintaining collaborative relations with each child’s family to foster children’s development in all settings, and providing a safe and healthy physical environment.
Since it first opened for the Fall 2022 school year, William Paterson University’s state-of-the-art Child Development Center has become a highly desired facility for families in around Wayne, New Jersey.
With a private, rear-facing entrance in a University building at 1800 Valley Road, the Center’s curriculum and physical design were inspired by the Reggio Emilia approach to learning, in which children are viewed as “capable co-constructors of their own learning,” says Center Director Cindy Gennarelli, who also serves as director of early childhood innovation for the University’s College of Education.
As part of the Reggio Emilia Approach, the physical learning environment is very important, considered to be a teacher itself, so every space in the Center was very intentionally designed to promote self-guided, experiential learning; this includes cozy tunnels for rest and play, and a large interactive physics wall in the hallway that includes ramps, inclines, pathways, and chutes.
The facility’s aesthetic is neutral and homelike, with child-size sofas, upholstered chairs, and lots of natural light to create a sense of calm “respectful of children,” unlike typical preschools that are very brightly colored and busy in their aesthetic, Genarelli explains.
Due to high demand and a long waitlist, the Center recently converted part of its multi-purpose community space into a sixth classroom. There are currently 100 students enrolled and demand continues to stay very high.
During their five-year NAEYC accreditation term, the Center must submit annual reports documenting that it is consistently meeting standards and is also subject to unannounced visits by program assessors.
10/29/24
