Serving on an Accreditation Team

Last week I told you how important I think it is that CA is accredited by the Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS ). This week I am totally immersed in the accreditation process at a school in Northern Virginia. From Sunday through Wednesday I have the opportunity (and responsibility ) to learn as much as I can about this school. As Vice Chair of the accreditation team I have already visited the school once and have spent many hours reviewing their report, curriculum, and many other required documents. Now I am seeing this school come to life as I meet the teachers, students, parents, and trustees. I am observing classes, playground time, eating lunch with the kids, watching carpool, and so on.

How does this benefit CA? Visiting another school is the best professional development an administrator or teacher can get. All of the information about this school is confidential and I can not share any specific details. However, I can share ideas and experience that I gain from this visit. As I spend time in this school I will be able to affirm what I think we are doing very well at CA as well as get ideas to share with teachers and trustees that might be good for us to consider. It may be as simple as a class lesson or project that I happen to observe and think one of our teachers might like to use in her class. Or I could learn about a policy or program that I think might be appropriate for CA.

While I am spending these few days in this school, I am working with five other educators from different schools throughout Virginia who are also serving on this team. Through our formal and informal discussions I am learning from them. This is one of the aspects of VAIS membership that I so appreciate ...networking with other schools. When CA earned our initial accreditation in 2005, I commented that we had ended our "splendid isolation " and become part of a group of outstanding schools. We can benefit from the experiences of other schools; they are always happy to share information and experiences.

Two of our faculty, Miriam Terry and Mary Lou Wilson, have also served on accreditation teams. I think they will agree that it is a wonderful learning experience (and a great deal of hard work). I miss all the CA kids this week, but I am so glad to have this time to grow professionally.

Next week we will be opening the online surveys that I mentioned last week. I can tell you that the team I am serving on now is taking a close look at the surveys that parents and other stakeholders completed. The same will be true when an accreditation team visits CA. Please watch for the instructions on how to complete these surveys. We need your participation. Thank you.