Christ Lutheran Child Center, Spokane, Washington, earns ELEA Early Childhood Certification

Sally Guthrie, Center Director

Thank you to the ELEA for developing a course designed for spiritual certification for Early Childhood Centers.

Christ Lutheran Child Center has developed a top ten list of the benefits of certification.

The surrounding community becomes aware, through word of mouth and by community outreach, that there is a quality early learning program in the area. The phone at Christ Lutheran Child Center rings off the hook with families looking to place their children for care. We have a waiting list for each classroom.

The staff is proud to work in the Center. When the staff of CLCC did self-evaluations this year, the overwhelming response to the question, what was your greatest accomplishment last year was: “being a part of the certification process.”

The Child Center staff develops a stronger curriculum. CLCC has college-trained teachers in every classroom. These teachers have created a curriculum that fosters the growth of the whole child in six developmental areas; spiritual, emotional, cognitive, physical, social, and creative.

The church body becomes more aware and supportive of your mission. Many of the members of Christ Lutheran have started to visit the Child Center during our operating hours. The Wednesday Bible Study group pops in to say hello, the Tuesday Quilters donate nap blankets, the Thursday group of Happy Helpers keep the Center in tip-top shape.

The certification process helps your Center identify weaknesses. The Infant Program in our Center was relatively new and we were working our way through growing pains. Thanks to the certification process, we now have a four-passenger baby buggy for outside time, a new, user-friendly daily parent communication letter, and a welcome packet for infant parents.

The certification process helps your Center expand upon their strengths. CLCC enjoys very low staff turnover. We compensate our staff for the demands an early childhood job requires. Our staff compensation is the highest in our area. We also offer a retirement plan, reduced childcare rates for staff children, vacation pay, paid sick leave, and a flexible work schedule. We are currently looking into offering health insurance through the ELEA Employee Benefits Plan.

Your arts and crafts donation box will overflow! For years, our Center has had a collection box in the church Narthex requesting buttons, yarn, laundry scoops, etc. for our art projects. It generally sat empty. Since our successful certification, we now need to empty our box frequently! We have toilet paper tubes to last us fifteen years!

The families attending your Center will be very supportive of your endeavor. When we announced our successful certification at our Christmas Program, we received a standing ovation, and many lovely accolades from our families.

You get amazing feedback from your certification team. The team spending time on-site at our Center included Gayle Denny (Executive Director for the ELEA), Connie Carlson (Early Childhood Education Liaison from Spokane Falls Community College), and Karen Holder (EWAEYC President and Early Childhood Teacher/

Director). We received a 21-page report from this group listing many commendations and suggestions for CLCC. In addition to this report we were able to spend an entire day with them at our Center gleaning ideas and gathering insight.

You will bond spiritually with your certification committee and staff. The late nights spent going over our packet and explaining the operation of our program to a diverse group of people forged a special bond between us. These people on our committee have become our strongest supporters and have maintained a commitment to CLCC.

For more information on the Certification process, contact the ELEA National Office at 800-500-7644 or visit our web site at www.eleanational.org. All ELEA member early childhood centers are eligible to participate in Certification.

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