March 28, 2024

Gilbert promotes preschool’s NAEYC accreditation, QRS ranking

Editor's note: This was a story originally run the Creston News Advertiser's March Progress issues and requested to run in the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune.

MURRAY — Murray preschool teacher Gerry Gilbert and the school district’s preschool program has a lot to be proud of — their hard work is getting noticed.

The program is accredited through the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

“It’s a very in-depth evaluation,” Gilbert said. “We have portfolios that have several hundred entries in them. They come in from Washington, D.C., and they observe us. They go through all of our paperwork. They make sure we’re doing all the right things. We have just recently received notification that we’ve been reaccredited through that.”

For more than 25 years, families have relied on NAEYC Accreditation to ensure the quality of education and care provided in programs for young children. High-quality programs provide a safe and nurturing environment while promoting the development of young children.

Gilbert’s background

Gilbert has a vested interest in the high-quality of Murray’s educational system.

“I’ve been at Murray forever. I went to school here, graduated in 1970, like a 100 years ago,” she said with a laugh. “I raised my family, my husband and I have five kids. We raised our kids, and then I went to college and got my degree after having taught Headstart for several years. I decided I wanted to get a full degree, and preschool has always been kind of special. I love little kids.”

During the regular school year, Murray preschool is an all-day program, Monday through Thursday. The average age of a preschooler is four or five, but the age of children with special needs can vary.

“They’re like little sponges. Every day is new and different. You just see them grow constantly,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert can have up to 20 students in her class. Stacey Feehan, Murray’s other preschool teacher, can have 12 students in her room, because the room size is smaller and she works with special education students.

Gilbert said the preschool teachers teach just about everything in preschool.

“We really work a lot on self-help skills,” she said. “Academically, they’re exposed a lot to colors and numbers and writing their names, and recognizing things. Our main focus is self-help skills and play. We do a lot of play. The kids get so much out of that. There’s more learning that goes on with play than people ever realize.”

Program standards

NAEYC-Accredited programs, which includes Murray, show their educational quality by meeting the “10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards,” which are based on the latest research on the education and development of young children.

All NAEYC-Accredited programs must:

• Promote positive relationships for all children and adults to encourage each child’s sense of individual worth

• Implement a curriculum that fosters all areas of child development — cognitive, emotional, language, physical and social

• Use developmentally, culturally and linguistically appropriate and effective teaching approaches

• Provide ongoing assessments of a child’s learning and development and communicate the child’s progress to the family.

• Promote the nutrition and health of children and protect children and staff from illness and injury

• Employ and support a teaching staff that has the educational qualifications, knowledge and professional commitment necessary to promote children’s learning and development and to support families’ diverse interests and needs

• Establish and maintain collaborative relationships with each child’s family

• Establish relationships and use the resources of the community to support achievement of program goals

• Provide a safe and healthy physical environment

• Implement strong personnel, fiscal and program management policies so that all children, families and staff have high-quality experiences

NAEYC Accreditation is awarded for five years. During that period, programs submit annual reports documenting they maintain compliance with the NAEYC program standards.

All NAEYC-Accredited programs are also subject to unannounced visits by skilled and reliable NAEYC program assessors to ensure they continue to meet the standards. To verify a program's accreditation, go to www.naeyc.org.

The accreditation is something important to promote to the south central Iowa community.

“We kind of have our own following, I guess you would say,” Gilbert said. “We’re usually pretty full. We have several people that open enroll from other school districts and bring their kids over. We were real fortunate this year, the trolley started running from Osceola, so we have kids that ride that.”

QRS

Gilbert said the Murray preschool program also has another exciting thing to promote. The state of Iowa has QRS, which stands for “Quality Rating System.” It is similar to a five-star hotel rating.

“We were the very first and only school to get it the first year it was available. It’s renewable every two years. Since we keep that up, we’re always one up on everybody else in the state,” Gilbert said with a laugh. “We’re ready to redo that one again this year.”

Murray Superintendent Alan Miller said he is proud of the hard work his staff has put in with their dedication and commitment.

“It’s easier to get a three star or a four star, but our staff doesn’t settle for that,” Miller said. “There’s a lot of work and time that goes into our five-star rating. It’s a positive direction for our district.”

Hard work pays off

Gilbert said the NAEYC accreditation means Murray has a high-quality program available for students and families.

“We’re doing the right things, that we’re child-led, developmentally appropriate,” she said. “It’s just kind of nice somebody’s checking over and making sure you’re doing all the right things.”

According to Gilbert, the Murray School District is a unique entity in itself.

“The fact that it’s a small school, everybody knows everyone and kind of helps out,” she said.