Our Mission

Joyfully Engaged supports early learning programs in Arkansas to provide high-quality care across demographics and regions to ensure kindergarten-readiness by embracing the practices, policies, and research of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

Goal One

To offer individualized non-partisan support to programs across the state as they navigate initial achievement of, renewal of, and maintenance of NAEYC accreditation.

Goal Two

To offer non-partisan financial support to programs across the state to help fund both accreditation and professional development.

Goal Three

To identify and nurture emerging early learning leaders and their programs across demographics and geography to increase the number of NAEYC accredited high-quality seats in each of the 75 counties in Arkansas.

Goal Four

To support and conduct non-partisan research, education, and informational activities to increase public awareness of NAEYC, it’s benefits, research, programs, and accreditation.

Our Guiding Principles

As an organization, we:

› Acknowledge NAEYC as the authority on NAEYC Accreditation and NAEYC Early Learning Program Standards and Assessment Items.

› Do not make interpretations that go beyond information publicly available from NAEYC.

› Are accountable for maintaining an understanding of NAEYC’s accreditation process, tools, and program standards and assessment items, and for providing up-to-date accurate information.

› Act in the best interest of children, families, and communities.

› Operate in an ethical manner guided by NAEYC’s Code of Ethical Conduct (2011).

› Recognize the confidential nature of the work and adhere to nondisclosure whenever and wherever programs, staff, children, or families are concerned.

› Adopted a mission that aligns with NAEYC’s vision for its accreditation system.

› Instill ownership of the NAEYC Accreditation process within the programs.

› Facilitate rather than direct programs. Instead we support programs with discovering strengths and weaknesses and to own their work towards improvement.

› Seek and foster relationships with other organizations and quality improvement efforts that advance NAEYC Accreditation and ultimately advance the field of early childhood education.

› Use business practices that have integrity and credibility and that foster long-term sustainability.

› Model continuous quality improvement, embedding it as an essential component of the project’s practices.

Our Values

  • Appreciate childhood as a unique and valuable stage of the human life cycle.

  • Base our work on knowledge of how children develop and learn.

  • Appreciate and support the bond between the child and family.

  • Recognize that children are best understood and supported through the context of family, culture, community, and society.

  • Respect the dignity, worth, and uniqueness of each individual (child, family member, and colleague).

  • Respect diversity in children, families, and colleagues.

  • Recognize that children and adults achieve their full potential in the context of relationships that are based on trust and respect.