SPRING 2004Drew Smith
Head of School
his April, the school will receive a visiting team of teachers and administrators from private schools in our region. Their task will be to evaluate our school for accreditation by the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, the New Jersey Association of Independent Schools, and the National Association of Independent Schools. The school currently enjoys membership in all three organizations, as well as in the Friends Council on Education. I anticipate that we will remain members in good standing following the team’s visit.
The process of accreditation begins with a school-wide self-study. Every member of the faculty and staff worked with two committees, each charged with examining a particular aspect of school life. Sections of this study were prepared to review such things as the school’s philosophy and mission, the state of each curricular area, and our physical plant. The primary purpose of the review is to confirm for ourselves areas that are strengths of the school, and areas where we believe the school needs to improve or change.
The accreditation process is critical to a Friends’ school like ours. This process insists that schools like ours constantly evaluate our program and rigorously adhere to our missions. In a way, this process of self- and peer evaluation is the secular version of continuing revelation. We must vigilantly seek what we believe are the right and true ways to teach and learn within our Quaker mission.
Although I am proud of the hours of work that our devoted faculty and staff completed as part of this process, I am even more proud to be working with a group of professionals who so passionately devote themselves to education in the manner of Friends. The enthusiasm I feel each morning as excited students buzz into the buildings is not accidental. It comes from children who know they are welcomed and known by their teachers. That buzz is generated by teachers who are part of a process that takes seriously the quality of learning and growth expected in each classroom; from teachers who are committed to this school because it is a Friends’ school.
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Last modified:
Wednesday, February 18, 2004 at 08:19 AM
