WHAT IS ACCREDITATION?
Accreditation is a process that all Catholic schools go through to evaluate their current programs, celebrate their successes, and identify areas where they can continue to grow. Our accrediting agency is the Western Catholic Educational Association. By engaging in the accreditation process, we review several key areas critical to our school's success:
1. Mission and Catholic Identity
2. Governance and Leadership
3. Academic Excellence
4. Operational Vitality
The process of accreditation involves three phases.
PHASE ONE
In phase one, we revisit several key documents such as our mission statement, philosophy, and SLEs. We gather data and other types of evidence to demonstrate the importance of the Catholic faith, academic excellence, and operational vitality. We completed this in 2022.
PHASE TWO
In phase two, we carefully analyze our data and evidence to identify key strengths and areas of growth. We will begin writing a report that will be given to the accreditation commissioner of the Archdiocese of Portland and the chair of our Visiting Committee. The Visiting Committee consists of a chair from a different diocese or archdiocese and Catholic school staff members from our own archdiocese. They visited our school in the fall of 2023 to review our report, data, and evidence.
PHASE THREE
In phase three, we complete an Educational Improvement Plan, which will give us a clear direction in moving our school forward. This was completed in 2023.
How are parents involved?
You receive updates on our accreditation process each month via this website. You will also be asked to complete some very important surveys. We will keep you informed as we develop our Educational Improvement Plan and our report, and we will periodically request your feedback. Our School Advisory Council members will be engaging with various accreditation committees. There are always opportunities for parents to get involved along the way! Questions about the process are always welcome!
How ARE students involved?
Students complete some surveys for the accreditation team. They are not personally identified in their surveys. We have a group of middle school students who assist our staff in identifying key strengths and areas for growth.
Thank you for your support in this important process!