Standard 8: NAEYC Accreditation Criteria for Community Relationships Standard

Program Standard: The program establishes relationships with and uses the resources of the children’s communities to support the achievement of program goals.

Rationale: As part of the fabric of children’s communities, an effective program establishes and maintains reciprocal relationships with agencies and institutions that can support it in achieving its goals for the curriculum, health promotion, children’s transitions, inclusion, and diversity. By helping to connect families with needed resources, the program furthers children’s healthy development and learning.

Within each of the 10 NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards are topic areas that highlight the big ideas to more fully express the meaning and value of the standard. Each topic area includes criteria that further define the meaning of quality in that area. The topic areas are identified by letters (A, B, C, etc.). The number of topic areas within a standard varies. The following chart presents the topic areas for this standard. Click on the topic area to link to the accreditation criteria.

Topic Area

8.A.
Linking with the Community

8.B.
Accessing Community Resources

8.C.
Acting as a Citizen in the Neighborhood and the Early Childhood Community