NIU Child Development and Family Center (CDFC) maintained the ExceleRate Illinois Gold Circle of Quality, a quality rating system for early childhood programs in Illinois that focuses on four areas: teaching and learning, family and community engagement, leadership and management, and qualifications and continuing education. 
“We go through the renewal process each year as a way to show the community, our students and families that we are the highest quality early learning environment, and we are committed to maintaining the highest standards for care and education for the children in our care,” said Kristin Schulz, executive director of the CDFC. “Gold Circle programs meet or exceed specific quality benchmarks on learning environment, instructional quality, and all program administrative standards.”
The four possible ExceleRate program ratings include licensed, bronze, silver and gold, with gold being the highest rating available.
“As a publicly facing university organization, CDFC continues its provision of high-quality early childhood programming to NIU and DeKalb communities,” said Thomas Pavkov, chair, School of Family and Consumer Sciences. “Congratulations to Kristin and her staff on work well done.”
Schulz said the CDFC team takes great pride in earning the ExceleRate Illinois Gold Circle of Quality.
“The staff members at the CDFC are dedicated to making sure they are meeting and exceeding expectations set by the state,” Schulz said. “We have highly educated and trained professionals who are working with students, children and families to meet their individual needs.”
For example, each teacher at the CDFC takes 20 or more professional development hours annually, which amounts to more than 500 hours of additional training on a wide variety of topics.
“Our staff is the best, and continues to be the best year after year,” Schulz said. “We show what we can do in supporting and connecting children and families to skills, education and community, and we use this process to learn and grow in a cycle of continuous quality improvement.”
Learn more about the Child Development and Family Center at NIU.
