Juan Pablo Rivera Garza
Reporter
On Friday, Sept. 23, students met in their homeroom classes and were asked a series of questions regarding how they see themselves and the school in the future. These questions are part of a self-study the school has to go through for the process of reaccreditation.
The school’s accreditation agency, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), visits the school periodically for evaluation. “We are visited every ten years by a team of educators who assess all aspects of the high school’s programs and organization, according to seven sets of standards that NEASC has developed and revised over the years,” Assistant Principal Ari Rothman said.
These seven standards are based on the importance of a 21st century education and an involved student body. “The faculty and administration will review these standards during a self-study,” Mr. Rothman said. “It is usually a year and a half to two years for the self-study.”
Part of the school’s self-study requires is to come up with a set of core values that they believe represent the school. According to Library Department Chair Michelle Luhtala, the faculty has been working hard to achieve this. “We have progressed steadily towards coming up with core values, beliefs and learning expectations,” she said. Ms. Luhtala added that the teachers went through an exercise similar to the one that students completed during homeroom.
The questions asked to students during homeroom were vital for the school’s self-study. “I would say that right now students have more input into the process than they think,” English teacher Mike McAteer, the school’s NEASC Steering Committee Co-chair, said. “That homeroom where students answered those questions really mattered.”
Most of this study is done on faculty, not student, time. “The faculty is completing this during Professional Development time and after school meeting time,” Mr. Rothman said.
Accreditation itself has been praised by multiple teachers for giving the school and teachers an opportunity to improve on curriculum and teaching techniques. “[Accreditation is] an opportunity to work through some ideas that we have traditionally struggled with,” Math Department Chair Jennifer Lee said. “The NEASC committee can serve as fresh eyes to help us work through these weaknesses.”
Although the self-study itself will be a long process, the actual accreditation inspection team from NEASC will only be here for three days during April of 2013. In these next couple of years, however, Ms. Luhtala said that students should expect to have at least one other survey to answer, even, one later this year.
The school’s self-study committee has recently published a google-apps website that is available for viewing by everyone in NCHS. The website allows students an opportunity to see the progress being made on the school’s self-study.
Mr. Rothman claimed that, though lengthy, the process is a worthwhile exercise. “It’s an opportunity to reflect on what we do and use research in the field of education to refine how we help our students succeed,” he said.
To visit the school’s accreditation website just click here.
To learn more about NEASC’s standards for accreditation click here.
