Sacramento State senior Zara Ahmadi led her 3-year-old daughter into the Associated Students Children’s Center Monday morning and asked her, “Are you ready?” The toddler followed her into the building with a smile.

The Children’s Center, located next to Parking Structure II, serves a number of children and parents each day ?” approximately 200 families. This semester, there is a new addition to the center: a national accreditation certificate.

The National Association for the Education of Young Children granted the center national accreditation in August, and the accreditation has sent a buzz around the center.

“We’re all very excited,” said Denise Wessels, the center’s director. “It was a long-term goal that the center had set for itself. – And to be nationally recognized, it really just says ‘Yes, you are a very high-quality program.’ We’re very proud of that.”

Children’s Center Associate Director Sherry Velte said the accreditation labels the center as one of the best of the best and that the campus should be proud because not every university has a nationally accredited children’s center.

President Alexander Gonzalez said he’s proud of the campus’ childcare program.

“I think the Children’s Center, from what I can see, is one of the best I’ve seen,” Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez emphasized that being nationally accredited is a big deal.

“I don’t know if a lot of students know what it takes to get accredited,” he said. “It’s tough. There are all kinds of laws, all kinds of regulations.”

And the center’s directors admitted the accreditation process was not simple.

The process began in 2001, Velte said, 16 years after the national association implemented accreditation programs.

“It was (implemented) to create national standards of quality so that preschools and childcare programs throughout the United States could work toward nationally established standards of quality,” Wessels said.

The standards encompass many aspects, including determining the correct adult-to-child ratio, setting the staff’s educational background and ensuring quality of the children’s environment.

“It really encompasses all aspects of running the program,” Wessels said.

Wessels said the first step of applying for accreditation was to put the program in “self-study,” which is when the center looks at its programs and compares its quality to the national standards. Surveys were given to parents and staff members to see how the program is doing, Wessels said.

Afterwards, the center published a 102-page report and the national association sent a visitor to observe the center itself. Then, a committee with the association determined whether to approve the center based on the observations.

Velte said the center encountered two major challenges from the survey’s findings: staff training and classroom structure.

These challenges were addressed by creating more consistent training sessions, aligning staff performance evaluations to national standards, changing the fee structure and reorganizing programs and age groups of each classroom in the center, Velte said.

Staff members are now required to participate in training two Mondays and one half-day Saturday each month. Student supervisors must also partake in leadership training. Training topics include program philosophy, health and safety, development and diversity.

Children are separated into classrooms by age. The center has three infant/toddler rooms for children 6 months old to 23 months old; one transition classroom for 2 year olds; four preschool rooms and one after-school program, according to its website.

Survey results revealed that safety is one of the main positive comments the center received, Wessels said.

“I think the one really positive comment we kept hearing again and again is that parents felt very safe,” Wessels said. “They felt very comfortable leaving their child here each day because they knew that the children’s center staff will provide a safe and healthy environment.”

Ahmadi, a pre-nursing major, has used the center for the past two-and-a-half years. Her 9-month-old infant, 3-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son are all enrolled in the center’s program.

As a full-time student, Ahmadi said it’s convenient to have her children looked after on campus.

“It’s easier for me to check up on them during my lunch break. If they get sick, they automatically call me and I can just pick them up and comfort them,” she said.

And Ahmadi said the staff is excellent and well educated.

“My children feel very safe and very happy when I drop them off. I don’t have to worry,” she added.

Llani McCarthy, a teacher at the center, said being a part of the staff is a way to help students by ensuring them their children are safe while they’re in class.

“I believe in community and helping families get out there in the real world,” said McCarthy, a Sac State alumna who has worked at the center for 28 years.

Nika Megino can be reached at [email protected]