Herricks-based Harbor Day Care recently earned accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children as it prepares to expand its existing network of day-care centers to the Willis Avenue School in Mineola later this month or early next month.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children accredits day-care programs based on 10 standards, including curriculum, teaching, physical environment and leadership and management. The 18-month accreditation process includes on-site evaluations, according to Tami Pelosi, director of Harbor Day Care’s program at the Herricks Community Center for the past six years.
Pelosi said Harbor Day Care’s educational objective is “to prepare the kids to go to kindergarten with the best education they can have.”
She said Harbor Day Care passed its accreditation evaluation with scores of 97 to 100 on a scale of 100 in all categories.
Pelosi, who will be directing the new Willis Avenue program, said Harbor Day Care sought accreditation to bolster its profile among prospective clients.
“When they see that you’re nationally accredited, they know they’re going to get a high education for their child,” Pelosi said.
Harbor Day Care currently has 200 children from five weeks to five years old at its Herricks facility. It currently serves 800 children in six centers throughout Nassau County.
When it opens its Willis Avenue center in late September or early October, Pelosi said Harbor Day Care has approximately 80 children enrolled for services at the seventh center.
“We’re in the process of moving in and making some renovations,” said Tom Rooney, Harbor Day Care director of marketing. “The initial reaction has been very positive.”
Rooney said most of the clients for the new facility are from the Mineola area, with some from Herricks. The facility will open at 6:45 a.m. each day, he said, and possibly earlier if there is a need fro workers at nearby Winthrop-University Hospital.
The Mineola School District is leasing the first floor of the Willis Avenue facility to Harbor Day Care in the second phase of its district-wide consolidation plan.
The first phase of that plan began last year when the district started a long-term lease of the elementary school on Cross Street in Williston Park to the Solomon Schechter Day School.
The Willis Avenue School had formerly housed classes for grades K through 2, which are now located at the Meadow Drive and Hampton Street schools.
The five-year lease is based on an escalating scale,initially set at $180,000 for eight classrooms, according to Jill Rooney, Harbor Day Care executive director.
Rooney has said Harbor Day Care has discussed the prospect of eventually using the second floor of the facility with Mineola Superintendent of Schools Michael Nagler. The second floor of Harbor Day Care is currently occupied the Mineola School district administrative offices.
