During the 17-18 school year, the School Board elected to pursue accreditation through the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. NEASC approved Northwood School as a candidate for accreditation in March of 2018 after a lengthy application process. During the 18-19 school year, school staff engaged in a comprehensive self-study. The self-study included completion of a thorough assessment of the school's educational programs, processes, systems, and practices to determine the degree to which the school meets each of NEASC's seven standards. The seven standards address the following areas:
- Core Values, Beliefs, and Learning Expectations
- Curriculum
- Instruction
- Assessment of and for Student Learning
- School Culture and Leadership
- School Resources for Learning
- Community Resources for Learning
The rigorous standards were established to ensure that the necessary components for effective education exist within the school.
The Leadership Team is currently in the process of documenting and providing evidence for the findings of the self-study. Following completion of the extensive evaluation document, NEASC will conduct an accreditation visit in the spring. The purpose of the accreditation visit is to review and determine from an outside professional viewpoint the extent to which the school is aligning with the Standards for Accreditation. As part of the evaluation, the visiting team will meet with all school constituents, review the school's self-study, visit a number of classes, and examine examples of student work submitted by the school.
The New England Association of Schools and Colleges is a voluntary membership organization of more than 2,000 public and independent schools, colleges and universities, and vocational, technical, and career institutions. Of these, approximately 630 schools are accredited through the Association's Commission on Public Schools. The Commission works with invidiual schools to improve the quality of education through a continuous process of evaluation and accreditation.
We will provide more information about the accreditation visit later in the year.