Hillsboro Community Child Development Center –– commonly called HCCDC –– has added not one, not two, but THREE feathers to its cap of quality child care.

The licensed day care center, located on the campus of Hillsboro Area Hospital, recently received an Award of Accreditation from the National Accreditation Commission for Early Care and Education Programs.

The recognition of excellence is the culmination of a lengthy process of review by child care experts, who looked at HCCDC's teacher/child ratios and relationships, administrative policies, classroom materials/placement, playground, and parent involvement.

"We've been working on this for several years," said Director Sheri Reynolds, whose vision has spearheaded the development, growth and improvement of HCCDC since its inception. In addition to the satisfaction and honor of being publicly recognized, "National Accreditation gives us points in applying for grants for programs and equipment," she said.

The center has also been granted Star Level Three through the Quality Ratings Program. HCCDC is the only child care provider in Montgomery County to achieve this level in the agency's rating system.

The third feather came this month, when three HCCDC teachers were invited to Springfield to speak at a meeting of child care center directors from throughout the state.

Shelby Martincic, Gwen Kuhns and Debbie Atkins (pictured above) explained and demonstrated their innovative use of technology to record and assess each child's physical and educational development from infant through kindergarten age.

Using an iPad and the Teaching Strategies Gold application, the teachers video-record a child's movements and responses, take notes directly on the iPad and then enter their observations into the application's assessment program on the iPad.

Reynolds said that HCCDC is among only a few day care centers in Illinois currently using such state-of-the-art technology, but she suspects that the presentation by her staff will lead other directors to adopt this effective and efficient method of completing required assessments of children's progress.

HCCDC provides full-time educational day care for children ages 6 weeks to 5 years, and currently serves 79 children from throughout Montgomery County. It operates in partnership with Hillsboro Area Hospital and Hillsboro Unit School District.

The center occupies the lower level of the hospital-owned Douglas-Telfer building. The hospital provides free use of the space plus utilities and building maintenance, summer food service and supplies at reduced cost.

The HCCDC director and staff are employed by the school district, which oversees day-to-day operations of the center. Children of hospital and school district workers can attend HCCDC at a discounted rate, a valuable and appreciated employee benefit.

In addition to HCCDC, Reynolds also directs the school district's before-school, after-school and summer programs for elementary school children.

For the past seven years, parent fees plus revenues from state and federal programs have covered operating expenses, allowing HCCDC to maintain a balanced budget. Reynolds said this will become more challenging as state reimbursements decline and expenses continue to rise.