Carmel Clay Parks & Recreation (CCPR) was awarded reaccreditation from the Commission for the Accreditation of Park and Recreation Agencies (CAPRA) at this year’s National Recreation and Park Association Annual Conference in Baltimore, Md.
CAPRA requires reaccreditation every five years, CCPR was first awarded CAPRA accreditation in 2014. Reaccreditation demonstrates CCPR’s dedication to providing the community the highest level of service.
“As a department, we have worked diligently over the last five years to strengthen our processes and have utilized accreditation to make our department stronger and a national leader for the parks and recreation industry,” said Kurtis Baumgartner, Assistant Director for CCPR. “The accreditation process also served as an effective team-building exercise, providing staff the opportunity to both realize how much we have accomplished and discover opportunities for improvement to better serve our community.”
“Reaccreditation is a reflection of our staff and the hard work they continue to do every day to make a positive impact in our community,” said Michael Klitzing, Director for CCPR. “Receiving CAPRA Reaccreditation is the culmination of years of dedication by our staff to document our policies and procedures and updates required to meet the stringent standards. Only four parks in Indiana hold this accreditation, and only 169 total across the United States.”
CCPR staff will celebrate this accomplishment with a banner presentation on Oct. 22 in the Monon Community Center gymnasium.
CCPR annually serves more than 2,500 students in its Extended School Enrichment before and after school program, 6,800 children in its Summer Camp Series, and 25,000 participants in its 2,000 different recreation and aquatic programs. In 2018, Monon Community Center (MCC) memberships and day passes to the MCC and The Waterpark exceeded 750,000. CCPR manages more than 500 acres of parkland, 13 parks, four greenways, and 26.5 miles of developed trails with total annual visitation estimated to be in the millions.