During the tour, Grafwallner and Kelley were pleased to learn that Celebree was successfully following and customizing each component of the Guidelines for Healthy Child Development and Care. These guidelines are designed for children from birth to age three. Grafwallner recognized that Celebree has embraced these guidelines through the implementation of individualized infant and toddler lesson plans within the four educational domains to documenting the infant and toddler milestones. Equally impressive, is that they hold parent/teacher conferences for each program— infants, toddlers, and preschool. Kelley commented on the relaxed but structured climate in all of the classrooms.

Celebree’s preschool programs are doing a great job of implementing the Maryland Model for School Readiness and enhancing the system in multiple ways, including the use of homework journals. Kori Wilson, Celebree’s curriculum coordinator explains, “We created a book for children to do activities within the seven domains of learning. This allows parents to be involved. Let’s them see what their children are doing throughout the day, extending the parent/child experience.”

“Our goal is to exceed the status quo and we’re doing just that,” states Richard Huffman, Celebree’s president and CEO. “Our measure of success is that each Celebree child is ready for kindergarten—that we’ve paved the way for their educational success.” The Celebree teachers are geared with the equipment, guidance, and training they need to execute the educational programs that are in alignment with the Maryland State Department of Education for Early Childhood Development. Their teachers are put through an extensive training program and required to continue their education and training every year. “We hire teachers with degrees in early childhood education and look for teachers that want to make a difference. Teachers that understand the importance of education in the first five years of a child’s life,” describes Detria Courtalis, Celebree’s vice president of operations.

An added bonus discovered at Celebree is their after school program. The program, called Hot Spots, is all about older children. The program is designed to encourage creativity, exploration, and imagination in school-age learners. Grafwallner was excited to see this focus on the school age children. He commented on the style of furniture in the classroom and the different stations or “Spots” that gives the school age children the opportunity to pick what they want to do throughout their day, from planning and rolling out a fundraising initiative to cooking in the café.