Investing in our teachers and school administrators has always been an important part of our culture at The Gardner School. Recently, several of our school directors and regional managers had the opportunity to gather and learn at the National Association for the Education of Young Children’s (NAEYC) annual conference in Nashville. NAEYC is a professional membership organization that works to promote high-quality early learning. Recently, NAEYC recognized the Gardner School’s Herndon campus as an NAEYC-accredited school, and many of our other schools across the country are currently in the evaluation process.
The NAEYC Annual Conference is the largest early childhood education conference in the world. Each year, thousands of teachers, program administrators, students, and researchers gather together to explore the latest trends and research in the early childhood field. Sessions cover a wide range of early education topics: math, music, language and literature, play, intervention, diversity, S.T.E.M., movement, family engagement, safety, and more.
“Investing in the further development of our directors is important to The Gardner School,” says Tammy Robinson, COO at The Gardner School. “Participating in the NAEYC Conference ensures even stronger leadership from our directors, so that they may provide a dynamic, welcoming, and excellent environment for our students and their families,” she adds.
TGS Highlights from NAEYC 2019
Here are a few of the highlights our team experienced at this year’s conference:
“I loved the variety of classes offered and that I was able to sit in on different topics ranging from classroom management techniques, education trends, administrative tips, and the 101 of becoming NAEYC-accredited! I also enjoyed meeting other people from the education industry outside of The Gardner School as well. It felt like a unique experience to learn about different schools and areas around the country—in one training, I met someone from Korea!
– Monica Zins: Executive School Director at TGS Herndon
“The NAEYC conference was a great opportunity to not only visit a new place and have fun but to also get together with people from a wide range of backgrounds and experience that work in the same industry. Personally, I was looking to enhance both my professional knowledge of the childcare industry in regards to NAEYC standards and learn some new techniques for professional leadership development. It was great to have a variety of topics based on the most up-to-date research to expand my knowledge of the early childhood field. Having an open mind about learning brings about positive change.”
– Jean Riley: Regional Manager
“The NAEYC Conference in Nashville was valuable for my team. It was a great time to learn and grow as professionals. It helps you gain knowledge with peers and other educators in the field and is a very fun team-building experience, and I love that The Gardner School invests in our people for their professional development. I know everyone truly enjoyed their time together as a team at NAEYC.”
– Rochelle Koznick: Regional Manager
“Having the opportunity to meet and learn from influential leaders in our field reminds each educator in attendance that we joined this field to empower, educate, and nurture early learners in a positive learning environment. The field is constantly changing, and in order for us to provide high quality child care, we must be familiar with what is considered best practices. Although the sessions are one of the most important parts of the conference, my greatest takeaway was that we are all in this together. The team atmosphere, energy, and excitement that the NAEYC conference provided helped inspire me, and I couldn’t wait to return to my school and start implementing what I had learned.”
– Kerry Alholm, TGS Bucktown Director
At The Gardner School, we take great pride in building a well-educated, well-trained, caring, and motivating team of support. We were honored to be part of this year’s NAEYC conference and are excited about continuing to learn from their world-class resources on early childhood education.
