WASC
ACS WASC Philosophy
The philosophy of the Accrediting Commission for Schools centers upon three beliefs: (1) a school’s goal is successful student learning; (2) each school has a clear purpose and schoolwide student goals; and (3) a school engages in external and internal evaluations as part of continued school improvement to support student learning.
Accreditation is integral to a school’s perpetual cycle of assessment, planning, implementation, monitoring, and reassessment based upon student achievement. It fosters 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. In addition to its official title, WASC also means We Are Student-Centered.
Why Accreditation?
- Assures a school community that the school’s purposes are appropriate and being accomplished through a viable education program — a trustworthy institution for student learning
- Validates the integrity of the school’s program and transcripts
- Fosters the ongoing improvement of the school’s programs and operations to support student learning
- Provides valuable insight from fellow educators visiting the school
- Benefits schools that choose joint accreditation or other collaborative processes, e.g., ACS WASC/CDE.
Public comprehensive, charter, and alternative schools in California use the ACS WASC/California Department of Education (CDE) joint accreditation process. ACS WASC accreditation is an ongoing six-year cycle of quality whereby schools demonstrate the capacity, commitment, and competence to support high-quality student learning and ongoing school improvement.
The ACS WASC/CDE Focus on Learning protocol guides schools into an ongoing improvement process that includes implementation, assessment, and refinement of the schoolwide action plan on an annual basis. Appropriate reports and reviews throughout the six-year cycle of accreditation support this process.
CSMH and WASC
CSMH is currently WASC accredited through June 30, 2018. The school community recently completed a self-study. During this process, stakeholders examined many aspects of the school and identified strengths and areas of need. Critical areas were pinpointed and a preliminary action plan was developed. On March 11th-14th, a group of educators will visit CSMH to validate the self-study report and to determine if CSMH should continue to be an accredited school.
Click here to access CSMH's WASC self-study report.