Fulton Education Center officially accredited

Foreground, left: Pamela Speer, executive director of Missouri Accreditation, presents the accreditation certificate to Fulton Education Center Director Jennifer Meyerhoff, foreground, right. Almost the entire staff of the Education Center came to celebrate the moment.
Foreground, left: Pamela Speer, executive director of Missouri Accreditation, presents the accreditation certificate to Fulton Education Center Director Jennifer Meyerhoff, foreground, right. Almost the entire staff of the Education Center came to celebrate the moment.

After staff worked for months to meet some 155 indicators in four categories, the Fulton Education Center has been officially accredited by Missouri Accreditation.

"We now have a center in the city of Fulton with a stamp of quality," said Pamela Speer, executive director of Missouri Accreditation.

She stopped by the Fulton-58 Board of Education meeting on Wednesday night to officially present the accreditation certificate.

The Education Center offers several preschool programs and a daycare center for Fulton Public School teen parents and staff members. It received its accreditation March 3 after a surprise visit by Missouri Accreditation Assessors.

The Fulton Education Center had to achieve accreditation in order to receive funding from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's Missouri Preschool Project. This grant opportunity is meant to help kick-start and improve childcare in the state.

"The daycare room staff had to work towards their CDA (Child Development Associate) Credential," Speer said.

Jennifer Meyerhoff, director of the Education Center, said that sometimes it the accreditation process seemed impossible.

"It was a huge process and every single person here was a part of it," she said.