BEVERLY — Ayers, Hannah and McKeown elementary schools have been accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children, making them among the first programs in the nation to receive the distinction since the agency elevated its standards in 2006.
The new system "raises the bar for preschools, child care centers and other early childhood programs," said Mark Ginsberg, the association's executive director.
Or, as Assistant Superintendent Marie Galinski put it, "We have a quality program, and now we have an outside organization telling us that."
Like the more familiar New England Association of Schools and College, NAEYC is a volunteer accrediting agency that holds early childhood education programs to certain standards.
Galinski said the three schools have been conducting self-studies since September 2006. The focus is on the relationship between teachers and students in the classroom, curriculum, student progress, qualification of staff, the leadership and management of the school, and many other factors. The study includes teachers observing other teachers in the classroom, surveys of staff and parents, and a long, hard look at the organization as a whole.
The association visited the schools in March and granted accreditation at the end of May.
The recognition will not matter for McKeown, because the school will close this week and become an alternative secondary school in the fall.
Galinski said North Beverly, Cove and Centerville elementary schools are all working toward the accreditation, and hope to receive it by next year.
Air Canada Plane Makes Emergency Landing
Raw Video: 19 Dead in Qatar Shopping Mall Fire
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
