Bluebonnet School of Cedar Park has voluntaryily chosen to be accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), and has been accredited since 2004. NAEYC is the oldest, largest and best known early childhood program national accrediting agency in the US. In Texas there are over 9000 child care centers licensed by the state, but only about 300 NAEYC accredited early childhood programs. An NAEYC accredited program has chosen to maintain much higher standards than a program with only a state license.

Choosing the right preschool can make a huge difference for your child. A parent’s challenge is to find the right environment. You want a program that nurtures and cares about your child, one that offers you transparent and frequent communication and one that gives your child a head start in school. But you want more than that. You want a program that encourages an inventive and creative child – one that doesn’t squelch a child’s natural curiosity.

Unlike other accreditations, NAEYC standards require frequent one-to-one, face-to-face interactions between each child and teacher, smaller group sizes, as well as strong parent participation. Primary consideration is given to each individual child’s experience.

NAEYC has always had health and safety standards, and, even more importantly NAEYC focuses on developmentally appropriate curriculum and teaching practices, tracking of children’s development, frequent communication with parents, and maintaining high standards for teacher education, management and leadership. An essential element of the accreditation process is a site visit by impartial NAEYC validators who visit the school, talk with staff, examine procedures and observe classrooms over several days.

There are other early childhood national accreditations, but NAEYC standards are the most rigorous for compliance. Most early childhood programs choose not to satisfy the requirements of a national accreditation. They simply adhere to the state licensing minimum standards and feel it is not necessary to do more.