(930 Hours) Financial Aid Eligible Program

The Early Child Care Education/Child Development Associate (CDA) is the most widely recognized credential in early child care education (ECE) and is a key stepping stone on the path of career advancement in ECE.  At Polaris Career Center, the CDA program is designed to prepare students to successfully complete the requirements for the nationally recognized CDA credential.  The CDA credential is based on a core set of competency standards, which guide early care professionals as they work toward becoming qualified teachers of young children. CDA students will learn how to nurture the emotional, physical, intellectual, and social development of children.  The CDA student will gain knowledge of how to put the CDA Competency Standards into practice and an understanding of why those standards help children move with success from one developmental stage to another.

Completing the CDA program will assist you in meeting current job requirements and advancing your career and salary.  The CDA will also increase your knowledge of early childhood education and understand developmentally appropriate practice.  In turn, you will increase your confidence and reinforce your commitment to early childhood education.

Students will receive 450 hours of classroom training and have the opportunity to gain practical experience in a 480 hour unpaid required field experience student teaching at an area child care center.  Note: field experience hours will vary between 6 A.M. and 6 P.M. and will be determined by the child care center offering the student the field experience.  Upon completion of the CDA program, the student will be eligible to apply for the CDA credential. A routine physical, and a criminal background check are required prior to student participation in the field experience. Immunizations may be required and the cost of these immunizations, will be the students responsibility.

Schedule/Tuition:

Fall 2013
Monday – Friday
8:00 AM – 1:00 PM
September 30, 2013 – July 14, 2014 (approximate ending date)

Tuition Fee: $6,995
Tuition includes textbooks, supplies, Infant/Child CPR, Communicable Disease, First Aid and Child Abuse Recognition training and certification fee, and CDA application fee.

Please contact Phyllis O’Connell at 440-891-7682 for more information.

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