Accreditation Committee Completes a Campus Wide Evaluation
Virtual visit by Western Association of Schools and Colleges committee members validates campus plan for improvement.
By Mia Howell
Virtual visit by Western Association of Schools and Colleges committee members validates campus plan for improvement.
By Mia Howell
In order for a student to go on to higher education, the military or trade school, a valid high school diploma is required. In order for the diploma to be valid, the school must be accredited. Accreditation is a process to ensure that a school meets educational standards and provides a safe and secure environment for students.
Every six years, a school must be accredited by an accreditation agency. In the event that a school does not receive accreditation, the diplomas from that school are invalid. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges is the organization that is responsible for the accreditation of 5,200 public, independent, church-related, pre-K–12 and adult schools in the Western Hemisphere, including Pioneer High School.
“When a school is accredited, they do a self study. That self study is done by the school and is like a reflection. They think about what they have done well, and where they need to improve,” said Pioneer’s WASC coordinator and science teacher David Crawford. “Pioneer High was accredited three years ago, and we’re on this six year cycle. (WASC) is coming to check if we’re on track, doing the things we said we were going to do when we did that reflection three years ago.”
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, WASC members would come to schools in-person, but now the visits are online. On March 6 and March 7, district representatives carried iPads around campus while on a Zoom call with a WASC committee member. Students and teachers were instructed to go about their school days as usual, but many teachers on this campus found it hard to do so.
“I was very distracted as were my students because she stood three feet away from me in front of the room and blocked the students ' view for 15 minutes straight,” said math teacher Whitney Goodman. “It would have been awesome if they could have come in person and actually be here and sit with kids and watch the class.”
Despite the struggles with the visit being online, WASC members were still able to get a clear picture of what Pioneer is like. Following the evaluation, the visiting members will write a summary report.
“This is (Pioneer’s) mid cycle report and it’s just about a 25-page report talking about the progress that has been made since the last visit with the full self study which was done in 2020. They addressed what changes have occurred and what progress they have made on their action plan and so we’re coming to just validate the report,” said WASC visiting member Rebecca Jackson. “We are here to give them any feedback about things that we see that maybe need to be added to the report that weren’t in it to begin with.”
WASC members left Pioneer with a list of six strengths which include a responsive and caring staff, an action plan to meet all areas of growth, a Wellness Center with a counselor and therapist, bi-weekly FLEX periods, grading and equity work, and a positive and welcoming school environment. Furthermore, the accreditation agency also validated Pioneer’s five areas of growth which included giving students in underperforming groups more support, developing and implementing multi-tiered systems of support for academic success, real-world connections in the classroom to help with student engagement and academic success, school and district leadership support so families have a better understanding of post-secondary options, and more frequent and summative assessments to help teachers drive instructional decisions.
“Over the next three years, we have an action plan, we have all the things we want to work on to get better, that we identified and that the committee agreed with. We are going to be working on that plan to get better in all those areas that we said we need to get better,” said Crawford.
Every six years, a school must be accredited by an accreditation agency. In the event that a school does not receive accreditation, the diplomas from that school are invalid. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges is the organization that is responsible for the accreditation of 5,200 public, independent, church-related, pre-K–12 and adult schools in the Western Hemisphere, including Pioneer High School.
“When a school is accredited, they do a self study. That self study is done by the school and is like a reflection. They think about what they have done well, and where they need to improve,” said Pioneer’s WASC coordinator and science teacher David Crawford. “Pioneer High was accredited three years ago, and we’re on this six year cycle. (WASC) is coming to check if we’re on track, doing the things we said we were going to do when we did that reflection three years ago.”
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, WASC members would come to schools in-person, but now the visits are online. On March 6 and March 7, district representatives carried iPads around campus while on a Zoom call with a WASC committee member. Students and teachers were instructed to go about their school days as usual, but many teachers on this campus found it hard to do so.
“I was very distracted as were my students because she stood three feet away from me in front of the room and blocked the students ' view for 15 minutes straight,” said math teacher Whitney Goodman. “It would have been awesome if they could have come in person and actually be here and sit with kids and watch the class.”
Despite the struggles with the visit being online, WASC members were still able to get a clear picture of what Pioneer is like. Following the evaluation, the visiting members will write a summary report.
“This is (Pioneer’s) mid cycle report and it’s just about a 25-page report talking about the progress that has been made since the last visit with the full self study which was done in 2020. They addressed what changes have occurred and what progress they have made on their action plan and so we’re coming to just validate the report,” said WASC visiting member Rebecca Jackson. “We are here to give them any feedback about things that we see that maybe need to be added to the report that weren’t in it to begin with.”
WASC members left Pioneer with a list of six strengths which include a responsive and caring staff, an action plan to meet all areas of growth, a Wellness Center with a counselor and therapist, bi-weekly FLEX periods, grading and equity work, and a positive and welcoming school environment. Furthermore, the accreditation agency also validated Pioneer’s five areas of growth which included giving students in underperforming groups more support, developing and implementing multi-tiered systems of support for academic success, real-world connections in the classroom to help with student engagement and academic success, school and district leadership support so families have a better understanding of post-secondary options, and more frequent and summative assessments to help teachers drive instructional decisions.
“Over the next three years, we have an action plan, we have all the things we want to work on to get better, that we identified and that the committee agreed with. We are going to be working on that plan to get better in all those areas that we said we need to get better,” said Crawford.