The purpose of the National Academy of Early Childhood (a division of NAEYC) is to improve the quality of care and education provided for young children in all types of preschools, kindergartens, child care centers and school-age child care programs. NAEYC Eligibility: Serve a minimum of 10 children within the age group birth to five in part or full day group programs and/or school-age children served before and/or after school with at least two adults present. In operation at least 1 year prior to accreditation. Licensed by appropriate state/local licensing agency. If license-exempt, demonstrate compliance with its own state standards for early childhood programs. Include the entire program that comes under the eligibility criteria in the self-study and validation process. The Accreditation Process: Self-Study Process: the program personnel and parents conduct a self-study to determine how well the program meets the criteria and complete needed improvements. Validation Visit: trained validators make an on-site visit to verify the accuracy of the program description. Accreditation Decision: a three-person commission considers the validated program description and makes a final accreditation decision. For more information about NAEYC, visit www.naeyc.org or call 1-800-424-2460.