CHILD DEVELOPMENT CENTER

406-731-2417 / 406-731-2737

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For further information or to find out how to enroll your children please call the CDC at 731-2417.

 The Child Development Center (CDC) provides center-based care for children 6 weeks to 5 years of age. The CDC provides care to children of active duty military and DoD/NAF civilian personnel families. We are committed to providing the best developmental experiences for all children. The curriculum is designed to meet the cognitive, social, emotional, and physical needs of children by using Developmentally age-appropriate activities.

• All our staff is certified in CPR and 1st Aid. In addition, the staff exceeds the required amount of annual training by over 100%! They are the best!
• Our program focuses on your child’s individual needs and on their social, emotional, and intellectual Development.
• Because we work as a team, our staff is allowed to be creative and use their education and experience to create imaginative programs.
• Our staff is carefully selected on the basis of educational background, experience, and ability to meet the individual needs of the children in our program. Our staff is continually learning new ideas through training courses and workshops. They strive to ensure the best possible care is available to Malmstrom’s children.

Accreditation:

Malmstrom’s Child Development Center (CDC) has achieved a new five-year term of accreditation from the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).   Less than 10 percent of all child care centers, pre-schools and kindergartens nationally acquire this recognition.  Malmstrom CDC is one of 12 accredited programs in Montana.

To earn NAEYC accreditation, the CDC went through an extensive self-study and quality improvement process, followed by an on-site visit by NAEYC assessors to verify and ensure that the program met each of the 10 program standards and hundreds of corresponding individual criteria.

To achieve NAEYC Accreditation, a program must meet at least 80% of assessed criteria for each program standard, at least 70% of assessed criteria for each classroom selected for assessment, and meet all required criteria.

Of the 10 program standards, the CDC achieved a pass rate of 100%+ on 6 standards, 100% on 1 standard and 95 – 97% on the other 3 standards.  The eight classrooms observed achieved pass rates of 94-98% and required criteria was met. These results represent an outstanding team effort by the CDC management and staff.

NAEYC is dedicated to improving early childhood education.  Programs achieving accreditation demonstrate they provide a safe and healthy environment for children, have well-trained teachers, have access to excellent teaching materials and work with a curriculum that is appropriately challenging and developmentally sound.

Our philosophy

The practices of Air Force Child Development Programs are based on current knowledge of child development and early childhood education. CDC programs are responsible for supporting the development of the whole child, meaning all areas of development are considered inter-related and equally important. The program acknowledges that children learn through active, hands-on involvement with their environment, peers, and caring adults. We respect each child’s unique interest, experiences, abilities, and needs, thus allowing us to be responsive to and appropriate for each child.  Children are valued as individuals, as well as part of a group. Likewise, the program respects and supports the ideals, cultures, and values of families in their task of nurturing children. We advocate for children, families, and the early childhood professionals within our programs.

General Information

Family members, ages 6 weeks to 5 years, of active duty military and DoD/NAF civilians are eligible to use the CDC. The present center has an enrollment capacity of 244. To enroll parents must:

• All requests need to be done through the Militarychildcare.com website. Once you log on you will need to create an account containing information about your family. You can then search the system for the child care options that best fit your needs and submit your request for care.
• Complete DD Form 2652, Application for DoD Child Care Fees
• Complete AF Form 1181, Air Force Youth Flight Program Patron Registration
• Current immunizations
• Submit copy of most current LES and/or pay stub
• Sign CDC contract

Fees and charges are based on total family income and are adjusted annually in accordance with the Military Child Care Act of 1989/1996.

The CDC participates in the USDA Food Program and children are served a nutritious breakfast, lunch, and snacks throughout the day.