The Cornell Child Care Center has received accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), early education's highest mark of quality. It is achieved by less than 8 percent of child care centers nationwide.

"We are grateful to the teachers and staff of the center and to Bright Horizons for their hard work in accomplishing this goal. This accreditation serves as further proof of our ongoing commitment to providing high-quality child care at the center," said Mary George Opperman, vice president for human resources.

To attain accreditation, a child care center must undergo a series of inspections from the NAEYC accreditation board, meet strict quality criteria and comply with all state and local regulations. The accreditation provides a process through which early childhood professionals and families can evaluate programs, compare them with professional standards, strengthen programs and commit to ongoing evaluation and improvement.

"We are incredibly proud of our teachers and our program, and we are proud to be one of only three centers in Ithaca with NAEYC accreditation," said Patti Sinclair, director of the Cornell Child Care Center.

The Cornell Child Care Center scored 100 percent on eight of the 10 criteria -- curriculum, assessment, health, teachers, relationships, leadership, community relationships and physical environment -- and in the other two categories, 96 percent in teaching and 88 percent in families.

The Cornell Child Care Center opened in August 2008 on Pleasant Grove Road in Ithaca to serve the children of Cornell's faculty, staff, student and postdoctoral associate parents. The 16,240-square-foot facility can accommodate 48 infants, 50 toddlers and 60 preschool children. The center is operated by Bright Horizons Family Solutions.

More information about the NAEYC can be found at http://www.naeyc.org.