Woods Hollow Children’s Center had been NAEYC Accredited since 1996. 

In 2005, NAEYC completely reorganized and reformatted the NAEYC Accreditation process.  There were many more criteria to meet and a whole new process to learn.  You can check it out at www.naeyc.org/academy.

 Woods Hollow was one of the first accredited centers to have to renew its accreditation under the new system.  We were trailblazers…we had no one to show us how to do it, and NAEYC was sketchy on the instructions for what we needed to do.

 We decided to go forward and learn along the way, creating our “journey”.  We were very deliberate in collaborating with other centers and each other within in our program.  We designed and created Classroom and Program Portfolios and used them as models to show other centers.  Our goal was twofold: to acknowledge and celebrate what we were already doing well, and to strive for excellence, the best possible outcomes in all areas, within all the 10 standards.

 The process was very challenging, and we made mistakes and had set-backs.  We learned a lot and after a while, we started noticing changes in the classrooms and in the center as a whole.  We started noticing the outcomes of our efforts and the impact it was having on the quality of our program.

 The result of our journey was that Woods Hollow received NAEYC Accreditation in November of 2007, with very high scores across all 10 standards and in the classroom observations.  We worked together to achieve it and are so proud of it!

 We celebrated with cake and champagne at our December 2007 staff meeting.  The CEO of Promega, Bill Linton, joined us to congratulate us and thank us for our accomplishment and what it means for children and families, and the community.

 Now, NAEYC has many tools and guidelines for Centers to refer to when going through accreditation.  There are videos and webinars on NAEYC’s website which help people build knowledge and understanding of the importance and value of NAEYC Accreditation.

Woods Hollow continues to work to maintain NAEYC accreditation standards and criteria, and submits and annual report each year to prove we are doing so.  Woods Hollow has been re-accredited by NAEYC in 2022!