There is a driving force behind the operations of Newtown High School that not many students know about. It affects not only classroom instruction, but the atmosphere of the school as well. The New England Association of Schools and Colleges is an accrediting organization that allows schools to perform self-studies. Schools that choose to partake in accreditation from NEASC go through 12-18 month self-study period, where all staff members take a look at the current state of the school and assess what they are doing well, and what they can improve upon.
For NHS, this process began back in October 2012. Roles were assigned to every teacher for the self-study to be able to start. “Two chairs were chosen by Mr. Rivera and Mr. Dumais, which were Mrs. Repay-Deeb and Mrs. Clark. Then, Mrs. Repay-Deeb and Mrs. Clark, heading the committee looked at the faculty at large and thought whom best do they see fit to work with them to steer the process of the evaluation. That is how a steering committee evolved,” current co-chair and World Language teacher Kris Kelso said.
Staff is assigned from there, with smaller committees in charge of creating narratives for the NEASC representatives. “There are two co-chairs, and then you have the steering committee. Each member of the steering committee is a liaison to one of the seven standards, and then they have co-chairs. They are responsible for the people on their committee. All seven of those committees are responsible for creating a narrative,” co-chair Amy Repay-Deeb said.
The seven standards of school evaluation are 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 seven standards wrap up how the collaboration of the teachers, students, faculty, staff, and community comes together in the school. The narratives include student work, and explanations as to why the school has or has not met each of the seven standards.
Presently, the seven committees are in the process of forming their narratives. English teacher Brian Tenney is a co-chair of the Assessment committee. “I work with my co-chair Kim Lowell and the rest of the committee to assemble evidence from all over the school and compose the narrative that describes how NHS is doing with assessments," in terms of achievement tests and graduation standards, Tenney said. All committees of the seven standards also include students, who help them gather evidence for their narratives.
The next and final step in the accreditation process involves a visit from NEASC representatives. During these visits, they read through the narratives that have been compiled and approved by the staff. NEASC will be in Newtown High School October 4th-7th, 2015. A welcoming reception will be held on that Sunday for the committee and then they will spend the next three days working with the community. The board members conduct interviews with administrators, teachers, students, and parents to find out multiple opinions on the each of the seven standards, and validate statements made by the school’s staff. “They’re looking to see evidence of what we put in our self-study,” Repay-Deeb said. They go into classrooms to evaluate the teachers and see if their performance matches what is in the reports.
Following the on site visit, the school receives notification of the stamp of approval, or the denial,“ NHS principal Dr. Lorrie Rodrigue said.
The last NEASC study was done in October 2005, and was very important for current NHS students. That evaluation was a catalyst for expanding the school and building the F wing. Also, changes were made in classrooms. “One of the recommendations after the last time was to be more inclusive in classes. In some departments, we got rid of CPB and CPA, so now it’s just CP,” Repay-Deeb said.
These combination classes allow students to help one another, and further learning for all students regardless of their cognitive capabilities.
Simply put, NEASC enables schools “to see what we do well and to see where we need to improve,” Repay-Deeb said. The long self-study period is important for continuously making improvements within the school. For NHS, staff and students will soon find out the results of the ongoing self-study, and make plans for bettering the school climate.