The Pioneer Technology Center (PTC) Children’s Lab has once again received accreditation through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) program. Oklahoma has only 53 early childhood programs that boast this accomplishment. This honor signifies high standards of early childhood education for the Children’s Lab.For nearly 90 years, NAEYC has worked to raise the quality of programs for all children from birth through age eight. A major part of the association’s efforts is to improve early childhood education through different systems of accreditation for programs that are committed to meeting national standards of quality. There are ten program standards and the framework of the standards and criteria focus on best practices in the field and the benefits to stakeholders in early childhood education. There are four groups of early childhood education stakeholders: children, teachers, family and community partners, and the program administration.Each of the ten standards falls under a category according to the early childhood education stakeholder. The majority of the standards focus on children–the most important stakeholders. The remainder of the ten standards focus on other stakeholders and the programmatic structure they build to support quality. The PTC Children’s Lab is a school within a school and it is open to everyone in the community. Their curriculum is implemented based on Oklahoma’s State Department of Education Standards and Early Learning Guidelines, the regulations of the Department of Human Services (DHS), NAEYC standards and Oklahoma’s Quality Rating and Improvement scale system. The facility boasts a 5-Star childcare center.Children’s Lab Coordinator, Lora Walton says, “We are so excited to receive this accreditation once again. This marks our 25th year of being an accredited program through NAEYC.”The PTC Children’s Lab uses the biannual assessments to guide curriculum that is not only enriching but also engaging. They follow the Oklahoma Early Learning Guidelines which are standard for curriculum mandated by the Oklahoma State Board of Education. Regular hours for the lab are 7:30am to 4:30pm Monday through Friday. The center follows the Pioneer Tech calendar and is closed when classes are not in session and are open all summer. For more information about the PTC Children’s Lab visit www.pioneertech.edu or call 718-4268.
