This article originally appeared in the Spring 2015 Window Magazine, titled Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC): Significant and Appropriate Progess in All Recommended Areas by Dr. Catriona Moran, Assistant Superintendent for Academics.
The accreditation process is essential for schools. Accreditation provides assurance to colleges that the programs in which our students are enrolled meet the highest quality standards and that the school is engaged in an ongoing process of review and improvement.
TAS is fully accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC). In March 2012, the Chair of the WASC Visiting Committee, Mr. Thomas C. Hudnut, President of the Harvard Westlake School in California, presented the accreditation report to the TAS community, noting that TAS is a "school in full bloom." After meeting with representatives of all stakeholders in the school and observing over 200 classrooms, he and his team awarded TAS a full 6-year accreditation.
Mr. Hudnut, along with Dr. Erin Robinson, Middle School Principal at Nishimachi International School Tokyo, returned to TAS in March 2015 for the WASC mid-term visit. The overriding goal of a mid-term visit is to ascertain that the commendations made during the accreditation are still deserved and that progress was made on the recommendations. Recommendations from this WASC visit will inform the school as it moves forward in the development of the 2016-2020 Strategic Plan.
Mr. Hudnut and Dr. Robinson made the following commendations at the conclusion of their visit:
- Significant and appropriate progress in all WASC recommended areas
- World-class professional development
- The development of a comprehensive and developmentally appropriate character education program...[providing] an avenue for graduating students who embody the TAS Values
- Positive risk taking by pursuing innovation through a KA-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM) program
- The creation of the position of Director of P.E., Sports, and Health
- Board's support of the TAS Strategic Plan 20122016 and for assuring that TAS maintains its position as a school of excellence in 21st century learning
- Sound financial stewardship
Furthermore, they recommended no additional areas of focus. Subsequently, the following recommendations represent areas that continue to deserve attention:
- Ongoing space needs, which have resulted from the success of the Robotics and Scientific Research programs
- Assure that faculty have a deep and common understanding of assessment terms and practices
- Capitalize on upcoming assessment professional development opportunities to ensure that all classroom based assessments are both reliable and valid
- Secure an online assessment data repository that best fits the need of TAS leadership and faculty