RAF Mildenhall CDC receives five-year reaccreditation

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kelsey Waters
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MIDENHALL, England --  The RAF Mildenhall Child Development Center received a five-year re-accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children May 21, 2013.

Those evaluating judged the CDC on 10 different standards for reaccreditation. The RAF Mildenhall CDC scored above 90 percent on all 10 standards with scores of 100 percent on eight of the 10 standards.

"Each day we have [more than] 250 different Department of Defense licensing standards and 417 criteria [to meet] 10 different standards held by the NAEYC," said Janet Evans, 100th Force Support Squadron CDC director from Manchester, N.H.

The inspection for the reaccreditation examined everything from the environment to the portfolios kept on every child, class and program.

The toddler class alone had more than 1,800 pieces of information that the inspectors reviewed, Evans said.

Those standards are part of the way the CDC caregivers make sure the entire staff take care of all of the children and treat them well.

"I know that if a caregiver from a different room comes in to my child's room, then [my child] will be safe and comfortable and be treated as if it was the usual caregiver," said Tech. Sgt. Jamilah Nailor-Thompson, 48th Medical Group NCO in charge of resource management from Colorado Springs, Colo. "They are very accommodating. I have triplets and they have allowed me to keep them in the same classroom since they started."

The CDC has different ways for the parents to be involved in their child's care.

The Parent Advisory Committee is a way for parents to actively participate in the way the CDC runs. The parents are also welcome to spend the day or just pop in for a meal with their child.

"We are full believers in the saying, 'It takes a village to raise a child,'" Evans said.

When one child succeeds or shows progress, the CDC as a whole, celebrates.

"I get called, at the front desk, to come and participate when the children are starting to take their first steps," Evans said.

The reaccreditation covered standard relationships, curriculum, teachers, families, community relationships, physical environment and leadership and management. The evaluation process occurs every five years and is required for all CDCs in the Air Force.

"It's great feeling that my child is taken care of," Nailor-Thompson said. "The reaccreditation is just an extra push to show that the care-givers at the CDC are doing their jobs and that they are doing them well."