Accreditations

We are thrilled to announce that the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) has awarded accreditation to our school. This is an incredible honor, owed not only to the very hard work and dedication of Elizabeth Brown (founding Maternelle teacher and current Education Director at Gowanus), who worked closely with staff to prepare our portfolio, to refine curricula, and to manage the inspection process, but also to all of the educators who work tirelessly to make Smith Street the absolute best learning environment out there. 

To earn NAEYC accreditation, we went through an extensive self-study and quality-improvement process over the course of the last two and a half years, followed by an on-site visit by the NAEYC Assessors to verify and ensure that the program met each of the ten program standards, and hundreds of corresponding individual criteria. 

In the 30 years since NAEYC Accreditation was established, it has become a widely recognized sign of high-quality early childhood education. More than 6,000 programs are currently accredited by NAEYC, less than 10 percent of all childcare centers, preschools, and kindergartens nationally achieve this recognition. 

Smith Street Maternelle is a proud member of the Independent Schools Admissions Association of Greater New York (ISAAGNY). Founded in 1965, ISAAGNY aims to ensure orderly, professional, and equitable admissions processes at member schools: we do so by observing a shared admissions timeline, engaging in professional development to hone our collective craft, exchanging resources and best practices, and more. The resulting spirit of cooperation serves schools, families, and nearly 30,000 students across greater New York.

Agency for French Education Abroad (AEFE)

In order to have full accreditation from the French government, a school must strictly follow L’Éducation Nationale, which is the official French curriculum. We prefer more flexibility and autonomy in curriculum design, so we will not seek full accreditation. Instead, we are in the process of applying for “labellisation” which is a prestigious seal and diploma from AEFE (Agency for French Education Abroad) for providing outstanding education in French. The “LabelFrancÉducation” seal is granted to schools outside of France that promote French language and culture as part of their curriculum.