GENTRY — GThough the report was preliminary, district accreditation for the Gentry School District seems all but certain, according to a PowerPoint presentation made by a visiting AdvancED accreditation team to those attending a special school board meeting on Feb. 24.

The visiting team, made up of Dr. Hugh Dickens, CatherineBaird, Dr. Randy Fugett and John “Skipper” Ward, visited each of the Gentry School District campuses last week and interviewed teachers, staff, students,Byrd, Cliftaadministrators and community members.

The accreditation team commended the district for its comprehensive beliefs, vision and mission statement formulated after numerous community meetings. The district was also praised for its highly qualified, stable and caring staff.

The high-quality staff were mentioned by all in the interviews conducted by the team, according to the preliminary report.

Also included under the commendations were the significant improvements in student performance as reflected in test scores. The district is meeting adequate yearly progress, the team report said. The district was commended because its staff analyzes and uses data to identify the needs of individualstudents and develops appropriate measures to meet those needs.

Under required actions the district is to take were only three points - and the less required actions listed, the better, said Dickens, who servedas chairman of the evaluation team. Required actions for the Gentry School District to take within two years were all simply expanding existing individual school plans to district-wide plans in the areas of quality assurance, providing professional assistance at the district level to maintain and increase the effectiveness of the system’s strong instructional and support service, and create a district-wide staff development program which pulls together the development programs already in place at the four schools.

The team will recommend the district be accredited as a quality school system,Dickens said. The accreditation will be good for five years. It could be pulled during that time, but it’s not likely, he said. An accreditation team will return in five years for another district evaluation to keep up the accreditation.

“We saw some good things going on here,” Dickens said. “We really did. We have a profound respect for the district’s knowing it successes and also the improvements needed.”

“You’re doing a wonderful job. We were fortunate to come here,” Baird said of the Gentry School District.

Ward said the team was here to support what the district was doing right and suggest areas where more improvements can be made.

Team members praised the district for seeking district-wide accreditation rather than seeking accreditation for each school separately. The decision shows the district is serious about providing quality education at all age levels, the team said.

Gentry School District superintendent Dr. Randy Barrett thanked the accreditation board, saying the team was “professional but friendly.”

Barrett also credited the favorable results for the district to the district’s “good staff working for the best education for our students.... We’re notthere yet,” Barrett said, “but we’re making improvements.”

The accreditation team interviewed 120 people in groups in its evaluation process. Also included in the evaluation were district test and student performance data.

The team submits its written report to a review board. The written report will then be finalized and sent to the school district to be made public, with the official accreditationto be approved by the AdvancED board of directors at its next meeting.

“AdvancED is the unified organization of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement,” the AdvancEd Web site says. “AdvancED is dedicated to advancing excellence in education worldwidethrough accreditation, research and professional services. AdvancED creates the world’s largest education community, representing 27,000 public and private schools and districts across the United States and in 65 countries worldwide, educating 15 million students. NCA CASI and SACS CASI schools share a unified, clear and powerful accreditation process designed to help schools continuously improve.”

News, Pages 1 on 03/03/2010