Statements
Mission
NAAEYC endorses high-quality early learning for all children, birth through age 8. We promote a diverse, dynamic early childhood profession by empowering all who care for, educate, and work on behalf of young children, through advocacy, leadership and professional development.
Background
The roots of the Nashville Area Association for the Education of Young Children (NAAEYC) go back to the early 1950's when it became the first Association for the Education of Young Children in the state of Tennessee and was essential in starting the state organization, Tennessee's Association for the Education of Young Children, or TAEYC. The NAAEYC continues to be an important community partner in influencing public policy to speak for the rights of children and families. The NAAEYC sponsors Nashville's Week of the Young Child activities. In 2017 NAAEYC became the only affiliate recognized by the national organization in the state of Tennessee!
Impact
NAAEYC continues to be one of the higher performing local affiliates with 1450 members throughout the six middle TN counties we serve. We also provided financial support to early childhood professionals pursuing higher education. NAAEYC provided funds for members to attend professional development conferences on the local and state level. Our annual conference was well attended with 300 early childhood educators participating! Each year our conference continues to attract increasing numbers of early childhood professionals. Our goals would be to increase funding resources to better serve the early childhood community, create a more diverse governing board, create additional community partnerships and continue to promote professional development through NAEYC membership.
Needs
The NAAEYC is striving to increase its membership and increase opportunities to provide quality training for early education teachers. Increased funding is needed to provide scholarships for members, facility improvement grants and for attendance at trainings and conferences. Training opportunities for current and future board members are also needed. We've joined the Center for Nonprofit Management to seek training for board members. Securing underwriters for conference keynote speakers is a critical need as quality speakers continue to increase their fees. A typical fee for one keynote speaker is around $3000. Finally, NAAEYC needs additional community partners to support the needs of our early childhood professionals. Finding space for our annual conference is getting more expensive and has risen to over $2000.
CEO Statement
As an affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) it is our duty to support community, early childhood education professionals in promoting high quality developmentally appropriate experiences for all young children by offering educational, advocacy, and collaborative opportunities to those who seek to improve the lives of young children, their families and the community. Becoming a diverse and inclusive governing board is a goal we continue to work toward so that all demographics are well represented in the community.
Board Chair Statement
As an affiliate of the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) it is our duty to support community, early childhood education professionals in promoting high quality developmentally appropriate experiences for all young children by offering educational, advocacy, and collaborative opportunities to those who seek to improve the lives of young children, their families and the community. Our challenges continue to be meeting provider's needs with rising costs. Those who might normally join the organization and attend conferences are finding it difficult to provide and maintain a level of professionalism for their staff because they have to keep their tuition rates as low as possible for families. Child care workers are undervalued in our society and thus less educated/trained and underpaid. It's an ongoing struggle for those who work with our youngest and most vulnerable members of society.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Education - Support NEC |
| Secondary Category: | - |
| Tertiary Category: | - |
Areas Served
Middle TN counties: Davidson, Cheatham, Robertson, Sumner, Trousdale, Williamson. While middle Tennessee continues to be our focus for providing support services, NAAEYC has members from across the entire state who actively attend the annual conference each year and are eager to participate in workshops and meetings.
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Trousdale |
| TN - Williamson |
