Published: February 17, 2008 01:35 am      

Sunbeam gets NAEYC accreditation

FAIRMONT — Sunbeam Child Care Center LLC, which recently earned national NAEYC accreditation, continues to provide valuable early childhood education.

In September 1980, Helen Post-Brown started a nursery school in the rear of her home at 1654 Mary Lou Retton Drive in Fairmont. Post-Brown, owner and director of Sunbeam, initially taught 12 to 15 children.

Since then, Sunbeam has developed into a fully licensed, nationally accredited child care center. Now, the facility has 27 staff members and serves more than 100 families. The children range from 3 months old to 10 years old.

“Sunbeam has been offering quality early childhood programs for over 28 years now,” Post-Brown said.

The center has been accredited for almost 10 years, and on Nov. 30 received its third accreditation. Sunbeam became the second child care center in the state to obtain accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) using the new system. Lasting Impressions in Clarksburg was the first, Post-Brown said.

NAEYC, dedicated to improving the quality education of children from birth to third grade, has established new accreditation standards that are much more difficult and follow more complex criteria, she said.

To earn accreditation, Sunbeam underwent an in-depth assessment. Post-Brown said the extensive process involved a self-study, submission of an application and photographs, and a visit from an assessor.

NAEYC has 10 program standards, and child care centers must score at least 80 percent or above on each criteria to achieve accreditation, she said.

Post-Brown officially announced Sunbeam’s NAEYC accreditation to the staff during the center’s 2007 Christmas party. Sunbeam’s teachers worked together as a team to reach the goal of accreditation.

“My staff has dedicated themselves to this,” she said. “Without them, we would not have been able to achieve accreditation. They’re a wonderful group of early childhood educators.”

Post-Brown said the new accreditation shows that Sunbeam believes in a quality program and strives to continuously work on it.

For more information, call Sunbeam Child Care Center at 366-8590.

E-mail Jessica Legge at jlegge@timeswv.com.