The Purpose of Accreditation
The original purpose of accreditation in the United States was designed to encourage the standardization of secondary school programs, primarily to ensure for the benefit of colleges and universities that graduating students had mastered a particular body of knowledge. However, today the process developed by the Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC), involves a dual purpose that continues the expectation that schools must be worthy of the trust placed in them to provide high quality learning opportunities, but with the added requirement that they clearly demonstrate that they are about the critical business of continual self-improvement. The accreditation process is a vehicle that enables schools to improve student learning and school performance based on an analysis of those strengths and limitations. Participating schools must meet rigorous, research-based standards that reflect the essential elements of a quality and effective school, but again, must also be able to demonstrate engagement in as well as capacity to provide continuous school improvement.
Current Status
The last visit of a WASC committee to the school and subsequent reporting took place in April 2018.
Three of the highlights from their report were:
- All of the stakeholders within this community feel they have a voice and are part of the positive transitions taking place.
- During the three day visit the students and faculty, when asked about school culture, mentioned ‘feeling like a family’, ‘students help at BFS and care for each other’, ‘we have dedicated teachers who care about us’, ‘we have a sense of community in our classroom.
- The management, faculty and staff deeply believe in their school and are dedicated to providing an outstanding educational environment.
We are proud of our association with WASC.
We expect the WASC Committee to visit us again in Spring 2022.
WASC ORGANIZATION
The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is one of six regional accrediting associations in the United States. The Commission provides assistance to schools located in California, Hawaii, Guam, the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, American Samoa, the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, and East Asia.
This association is composed of three commissions:
- Accrediting Commission for Senior Colleges and Universities
- Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges
- Accrediting Commission for Schools
The Accrediting Commission for Schools extends its services to public, independent, church-related, and proprietary schools of the following levels and types: elementary schools; junior high/middle/intermediate schools, comprehensive/college preparatory high schools, continuation high schools, alternative high schools, occupational/vocational high schools, regional occupational programs/centers, adult schools, and vocational skill centers. Many of the schools accredited also include postsecondary courses, e.g., courses which require a high school diploma or G.E.D.
WASC PHILOSOPHY
The Accrediting Commission for Schools, Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) believes that the goal of any school should be to provide for successful student learning. Programs encompassing both the cognitive and affective components of learning should foster human growth and development and enable students to become responsible, productive members of the school community and of society. Each school should develop a school purpose to reflect its beliefs. For ongoing program improvement, each school should engage in objective and subjective internal and external evaluations to assess progress in achieving its purpose.
The Commission grants accreditation to a school based upon the following:
- The presumption that the primary goals of accreditation are:
- Certification to the public that the school is a trustworthy institution of learning
- The improvement of the school’s programs and operations to support student learning
- The school’s self-study and the visiting committee’s report provides compelling evidence that:
- The school is substantially accomplishing its stated purposes and functions identified as appropriate for an institution of its type
- The school is meeting an acceptable level of quality in accordance with the WASC criteria adopted by the Accrediting Commission.
WASC MISSION
The mission of the Commission is to foster excellence in elementary, secondary, adult, and postsecondary education by encouraging school improvement through a process of continuing evaluation and to recognize, by accreditation, schools that meet an acceptable level of quality, in accordance with established criteria.