WHAT DOES ACCREDITATION MEAN?
Accredited schools (approximately 30,000) are members of one of the nation’s six regional accrediting associations. Being an accredited association member implies that the school subscribes to a process of voluntary self-regulation that is a constructive experience designed to improve the quality of a member school.
Accreditation promotes self-regulation by causing schools to participate in an ongoing school improvement process that continually stimulates vital educational efforts. Additionally, accredited schools must meet standards considered essential for quality education.
The accreditation of a school is an affirmation that the school provides a quality of education that the community has a right to expect and the educational world endorses.
Accreditation is a means of showing confidence in a school’s performance. When the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools accredits a school, it is certifying that the school has met the prescribed quantitative and qualitative standards of the Association annually, within the terms of the school’s own stated mission and beliefs. It is also certifying that the school has undergone a self-study and validation by an outside team of peers upon application for membership and once every six years thereafter. Each member school must also be involved in a continual school improvement process (SIP) that must be reported as part of the school’s Annual Report to the Association.
Accreditation by the Association is certification of the school’s claim that its unique mission and beliefs are being pursued through sound educational programs and practices.
ACCREDITATION REPORT
The last accreditation team visit was successful. Here are some of the things they had to say:
An unwritten rule among students, staff, and parents seems to suggest throughout the school that, "We're all in this together."
Excellent merging of cognitive skills with affective domain for all students.
An ability to focus on innovative and creative educational opportunities for all learners along with structure seems to foster academic results.
An overview of sharing, caring, and building trust by the staff sets a positive and productive learning atmosphere to help generate successful student achievement.
The program maintains complete flexibility without sacrificing standards and a willingness to develop a school to career component.
The process of individualizing education has been honed to a fine art for assisting students so they may achieve personal and professional goals.
It is the personal attention and caring for each student that was noticed as one of the great strengths of Chrysalis.
Effort to notice and assess affective improvements for each student is outstanding.
The efforts to understand and improve teacher strategies (e.g., men and women teaching math use different languages) is an excellent example of really trying to become aware of the subtle elements that can enhance students' success.
The importance of parent communication is exemplified by the fact that the support team identifies this as one of their primary tasks. The idea of follow-up calls to ask, "How does it seem to be going?" is excellent.
Proper student placement during intake with the "right" teacher and appropriate classes is vital to student success.
This unique program allows for continual assessment and adjustment throughout the year, not just at the annual or quarter breaks.
The quality of exhibited and expressed student work is of high caliber and underscores the special mentoring relationships between students and teachers.
The varied formats of student work (i.e., written, graphic, visual, performance) is consistent with the mission of meeting the needs of individual learners and demonstrates a high emphasis on independent learning.
