The Shadow
WARM SPRINGS – Bath County Public Schools hosted an AdvancED Quality Assurance Review Team earlier this week that visited the district and its schools to evaluate the district’s adherence to the AdvancED accreditation standards.
The team, in its Monday through Wednesday visit, found that Bath County Public Schools met the requirements for all seven AdvancED standards, and announced that it will be recommending the division for District Accreditation.
Final approval is made by the national AdvancED Accreditation Commission.
Comprised of five trained professionals from across the state and nation, the team: reviewed district documents and performance data; interviewed 66 district, school and community stakeholders; conducted site visits at three schools and observed district and school practices.
The team commended the district for:
•implementing, monitoring and sustaining strong and meaningful community support and engagement through its partnerships and awareness programs;
•teamwork and versatility of the leadership staff;
•developing and maintaining a strong relationship with the county government; and
•providing a positive culture for student learning.
In addition, the QAR team identified required actions for the district:
•initiate additional strategies to improve communication between and among all staff and stakeholders in the district;
•increase the involvement of various stakeholder groups in systematically reviewing the district’s vision and purpose by granting opportunities for a broader range of stakeholders to provide meaningful contributions to defining the vision; and
•develop a continuous improvement plan with clearly defined goals that align with the district’s vision, mission and expectations for student achievement.
The district will be developing plans to respond to and address these required actions. In two years, the district must report to AdvancED its progress in addressing the team’s required actions.
Sue Hirsh, division superintendent, shared thoughts about the value of the district accreditation process.
“We have successfully transitioned from individual school accreditation to division accreditation,” she said. “We have received recognition of our efforts to improve the quality of Bath County Schools, but now, of course, we need to move forward in the continuous improvement journey. I am certain that we will continue to become an even stronger school division.”
Parents and interested community members can learn more about the District Accreditation Process at www.advanc-ed.org.
AdvanceED is the parent organization for the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI).
NCA CASI and SACS CASI are accreditation divisions of AdvancED.
Dedicated to advancing excellence in education worldwide, AdvancED provides accreditation, research and professional services to 27,000 public and private schools and 4,500 school districts in 30 states and 65 countries.
