When selecting a pre-school for your child, be sure to visit and compare several facilities. Observe the teachers, children and other parents, and request solid answers to the following questions:

How secure is the facility? Almost all centers have a locked front door, but once inside the lobby, are there other security protocol, or does everyone have full access to the building? Are the doors leading in from the playgrounds locked or monitored?

At Park Place Children’s Center, the front door and all exterior doors are always locked. Parents use a numeric code to enter the lobby, and use their code again to go from the lobby to the classrooms. The doors leading to the playgrounds also remained locked at all times, and parents and teachers use their numeric codes to access these areas.

How many children are in each room? Many childcare centers offer the same teacher: student ratios, but differ greatly in the number of children that are scheduled to be in each classroom.

Click here to see Park Place Children’s Center’s ratios and maximum group sizes.

Has the center been assessed with ITERS and/or ECERS environmental rating scales? Please click here for more information about this quality assurance program. You may also want to visit http://ers.fpg.unc.edu/ to learn how these rating scales were developed and are being used around the country to identify and develop high quality early childhood education programs.

Do children have learning opportunities in a variety of settings, or are they stuck in the same classroom all day, every day?
Having a few transitions each day enhances a pre-school program, but too many transitions have the opposite effect. Children benefit most from a balanced program where they have ample, uninterrupted time in their own classroom along with activities in other areas.

At Park Place Children’s Center, children enjoy activities in their classrooms, the gym, the library, the enrichment center, and on the playground. Infants and toddlers enjoy daily excursions on the six-passenger “Kindervans.”

Is this center nationally accredited or pursuing accreditation? If not, why not? National accreditation provides a level of accountability which ensures that a center is providing facilities and programs that are aligned with the “best practices” in early childhood education.

Park Place Children’s Center was designed to meet and exceed national accreditation standards. Most accrediting bodies require centers to be in operation for a least one year before beginning the accreditation process. Our operating procedures incorporate accreditation standards that will easily enable us to pursue full accreditation at the earliest possible time.