Early Childhood Center Earns Gold Circle of Quality

The Early Childhood Center at Joliet Junior College has been named a Gold Circle of Quality designee by ExceleRate Illinois.

The ECC provides learning and social experiences, safety and guidance for children ages 3 to 5. It is available to parents or guardians who are JJC students, employees, or community members.

ExceleRate Illinois is a quality recognition and improvement system that establishes standards for developing infants, toddlers and preschool-age children. It also recognizes providers for their services. The Gold Circle of Quality is intended for programs that have met the highest quality standards in three areas: learning environment and teaching quality, administrative standards, and training & education. 

"We are proud to receive the Gold Circle of Quality," said Beverly Cavanaugh, manager of JJC’s Early Childhood Center. "Providing quality in early learning and development will help our children in Joliet be better prepared for success in school and in life."

According to ExceleRate Illinois, the right engagement with children at an early age will enable them to form a healthy foundation of neural pathways in the brain, affecting their ability to think, react, process and grow.

Cavanaugh said achieving a quality program requires adequate staffing with small groups of children and low adult to child ratios.

“Quality also extends to the family,” she said. “We accept the responsibility and opportunity to offer support to our student-parents through engagement in the decision making process of the program. We also recognize that as a college laboratory, we have an added obligation to provide excellence in teaching and model best practices for our JJC students pursuing careers in early education.”

Learn more about JJC’s Early Childhood Center at its website.

For media inquiries contact Communications and Media Coordinator Scott Harvey at 815-280-2844 or sharvey@jjc.edu.