On April 25, 1997, St. Michael's was officially accredited by the Middle States Association Commission on Elementary Schools. We began the accreditation process in December of 1995 with the self-evaluation and had the MSA evaluation team visit for three days in November of 1996 for their on-site inspection. It was our hope then that this process would validate our belief that St. Michael's School is an exceptional learning institution and a superb environment for the academic, spiritual, and moral development of our children. As we had hoped, the MSA did just that. St. Michael's is now among that small and distinguished group of elementary schools that has earned the Middle States seal of approval.
Below is a brief explanation of what Middle States accreditation means and why our achieving it should reinforce your confidence in St. Michael's.
MIDDLE STATES ACCREDITATION
THE SELF-STUDY
The first step in the accreditation process was the year-long self-study. St. Michael's began this in the fall of 1995 by writing a clear enunciation of its philosophy. It is based on what we believe our mission to be. As part of this section, we also took a closer look at the nature of the school community so that its philosopy, appraisal, and evaluation may ultimately be put within a fair perspective for accreditation. We did this through a survey that was distributed to all school parents in early 1996. We evaluated what exactly we offer our students and how we implement our philosophy. In other words, what do we do to make our mission succeed? Included in this are self-appraisals of the school's administration, faculty, staff, course offerings, instructional materials, even the physical plant and facilities.
The self-study gave us a chance to discover ourself. By defining our philosophy and testing it, we, of course, uncovered our weaknesses, thereby beginning the process of correction, but we also discovered our successes, many of which we had never realized because we had never really sought them out.
THE EVALUATION
The next step was the actual evaluation by Middle States. They selected educators who were in no way connected with St. Michael's to perform a fair evaluation. We hosted a four member team and they spent three days at the school finding out all about us and insuring the accuracy of our self-study. The visit took place on November 4 through the 6th in the fall of 1996.
THE ACTION PLAN
In the spring of 1997, the school developed a clear set of goals and the plans to achieve those goals. We will use this plan to improve our school where we need improvement while maintaining the strengths that we discovered through the accredition process.
THE ACCREDITATION
Finally, if the Middle States Commission on Elementary Schools decided that St. Michael's was worthy of accreditation. It was granted in May of 1997. This accreditation is in effect for 10 years. During that time there is periodic progress reporting so that we are kept on our toes between accreditations.
WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?
By becoming accredited by the Middle States Association, we have assured ourselves that we have a well-defined mission and we have the tools and organization to implement that mission. In areas where improvement is needed, we are actively striving to improve; where we are strong, we are insuring that we remain strong. In short, accreditation means that St. Michael's can only get better--and it will get better, not just today, but in the long run, too. Accreditation assures the efficacy of the long term plan; it is not just a commentary on the state of things today.
Above all, accreditation shows that St. Michael's cares enough about its children that it seeks an objective unbiased evaluation. It wants to be sure that it is doing what is best for its children. Where it is failing, it corrects; where it succeeds, it strives for perfection. Through it all, there is a plan, a methodology for continuous improvement, and the assurance of objective evaluation.
The standards are established by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools and administered by the Commission on Elementary Schools, one of the three accreditation authorities under the auspices of the Middle States Association. The other two are the Commission on Secondary Schools and the Commission on Higher Education. The Middle States Association was established by the academic profession in 1887 to set standards for American education. It is a non-profit corporation chartered by the New York Board of Regents. It serves Maryland, the District of Columbia, Delaware, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and certain regions overseas.
