On June 29, Benicia KinderCare received a prestigious national accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Accreditation ensures that the programs and the teaching that children receive in the KinderCare program exceed national standards by demonstrating excellence in all aspects of early childhood care, from support during their first steps to hands on learning that prepares children for kindergarten.
Accreditation is an intensive process that involves in-depth analysis of the KinderCare facilities as well as an in classroom observation. prepare for accreditation, teachers are given rigorous accreditation training that covers what the NAEYC wants to see in a quality classroom and what is expected of teachers in order to receive accreditation. After that, teachers work on making their classrooms more enriching and engaging for students by experimenting with different teaching styles and curriculums.
“It’s about learning new habits and making sure that the children are getting the best out of our program, making our program is the best that it can be and ensuring that the quality is at its highest standard.” Falin Ziadeh, the Center Director of Benicia KinderCare, said.
Once the NAEYC feels that the organization meets the requirements, they will come into the classroom for observations.
Although any child care organization can work towards accreditation, they must meet the prerequisite standards of NAEYC. KinderCare meets these requirements by ensuring that their student teacher ratios are the required proportions – 1:12 teachers to students in their preschool programs and 1:4 teachers to children in their programs for infants and toddlers – and then exceeds prerequisites by ensuring that they provide all their programs with the most qualified teachers for a positive and enriching pre-K environment.
“When a parent brings their child here, [we make sure] they are comfortable with the fact that their child is going to get the best education they can receive through our teachers based on the training that KinderCare has provided.” Ziadeh said.“What the accreditation shows us is [our teachers] practice ‘best practices’: making sure that all hands are washed upon arrival and before and after meals, family style eating, really talking and engaging with the children and recognizing their achievements in the classroom; these are all things that the assessor looks for to ensure we are meeting that quality.”
Only 10 percent of child care organizations are accredited. As an organization, KinderCare has at least over 1500 accredited child care centers nation-wide, Benicia being the newest addition. KinderCare is piloting a partnership with NAEYC to assist them in accrediting all their programs.
Ziadeh says that what sets KinderCare apart from other organizations trying to be accredited is the motivation and commitment the company has made as a whole.
“It makes the entire team really excited to try and pursue this goal, and to be one of the first companies ever to have all their programs accredited,” she said.
Kids reach milestones in the KinderCare classrooms; they are walking, talking and recognizing their names and colors while at KinderCare, so by the time they enter KinderCare’s pre-K program, they have mastered the essential skills to do well in kindergarten. Staff members benefit from KinderCare’s continuing education program which sponsors their college education through tuition reimbursement programs and allows them grow in the company by beginning as teacher’s aides, developing into teachers and finally becoming management.
This program gives staff members so much mobility within the company that teachers can continue, as Ziadeh says, to “flourish and use their skills” within KinderCare.
Ziadeh is most proud of how KinderCare prepares students for kindergarten and how the program as a whole has been so instrumental in the pre-K foundations of childhood learning.
“All the teachers and staff want to know they’ve made a difference in a child’s life, and I think with [NAYEC’s accreditation], that added more of an accomplishment, because everyone worked so hard to ensure and now it’s been proven that they are giving that quality in the classrooms,” Ziadeh said.
Benicia KinderCare, located at 1101 Rose Drive, is now enrolling. Ziadeh encourages parents to stop by for a tour or call (707) 745-0916 for more information about the center.

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