February 15, 2005 > Kidango Centers Receive Accreditation From Naeyc

by Paul Miller

Kidango, Inc., one of the Bay Area's largest non-profit providers of early care and education, announced today that two of their Union City centers received accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), bringing the total number of accredited Kidango centers to 16.

NAEYC Accreditation is a nationally recognized standard for excellence in early education. Founded in 1926, it is the world's largest organization working on behalf of young children with more than 100,000 members, a national network of nearly 450 local, state, and regional affiliates, and a growing global alliance of like-minded organizations. The NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation administers a national, voluntary accreditation system to help raise the quality of all types of preschools, kindergartens, and childcare centers.

According to the Child Care Information Exchange, only 3.44 percent of centers in California are accredited by NAEYC. Thirty percent of Kidango's eligible centers are accredited, with others in various stages of the accreditation process. The two centers that received accreditation in January are Alvarado and Kitayama, which are each located on the New Haven Unified School District elementary schools with the same names. Kidango operates a preschool center on each of the 11 NHUSD elementary schools, and seven have received NAEYC accreditation.

Kidango began as Tri-Cities Children's Centers in 1979. At inception there were only 90 children and families being served at one center in Fremont. Today more than 2,500 children and their families benefit from the Kidango programs in Alameda, Santa Clara and San Francisco Counties. As a leader in early education, early intervention and before and after school services, this public benefit organization has a long history of working closely with the California Department of Education Child Development Division, Regional Centers and Head Start programs to provide quality services for infants and children up to 10-years-old.

For further information about the agency contact Kidango at (800) 262-4252 or visit us on the web at www.kidango.org.