During the first week of March, the Western Association of Schools and Colleges will be visiting TCHS to accredit our school. Math Teachers Ms. Nancy Bulgin and Ms. Sherry Marrier have been working to compile a Focus on Learning report to send to WASC before they sends their visiting committee to TCHS.
“When they come, they will give us their recommendation and it can range from one to six years,” Ms. Bulgin said. “Usually we get the six year accreditation.”
When they visit, the WASC committee will walk around campus and randomly select and ask students questions about campus life at TCHS.
Ms. Bulgin and Ms. Marrier have been working with a group of students every two weeks to formulate a survey that will help give the WASC committee a good look into TCHS from a student’s point of view.
The students meet every two weeks to revise the survey. They decided which questions from the previous survey were irrelevant and what questions needed to be added in. One key addition to this year’s survey is the importance of the RAMS intervention program.
All students will be required to take this questionnaire sometime in December or January on Edline during their math classes. The student survey is a key aspect in determining the length of accreditation.
Teachers and other staff also have a voice in this process. They formed eight focus groups and meet at least once a month. Each group addresses issues in a certain aspect of school.
“One focus group will talk about curriculum while another will talk about assessment,” Ms. Marrier said. “There will be a group that focuses on school services and the counselors are in that group because they are the most knowledgeable on that subject.”
During the last day of their visit, the WASC committee will give the district and administrative staff a basic overview on what they observed but the school will not know the official length of accreditation until the summer.
WASC is a part of the Accrediting Commission for Schools and works to accredit over 4,500 public and private universities, colleges, high schools, intermediate schools and elementary schools.
Schools need to be accredited in order to ensure that each school is committed to providing a quality environment for students to learn and develop.