SACRED HEART GAINS NEW ACCREDITATION STATUS
Sacred Heart School hosted a team of professional educators during its External Review on March 28-30, and was granted Regional Accreditation status. This is overseen by AdvancED, the largest accreditation agency in the world. After three years of work measuring its adherence to various standards and collecting evidence to support this, Sacred Heart presented its findings to a team consisting of Pat Geary of Midland University, Susie Sisson of Omaha Marion HS, Father Mark Cyza, principal of Lourdes High School, Margaret MacInteer, formerly with Marzano Professional Development and ESU 4, and Denise Kurpgewait of Falls City Public School.
The visiting team spent many hours examining our evidence, which included curriculum guides, schedules, surveys, handbooks, test scores—enough data to fill one binder for each of the 5 standards. They also observed all the teachers at work in their classrooms and interviewed students, parents, teachers, support staff, School Council and community members. At the end of their visit, the external team gave the staff a presentation with commendations for the “family” atmosphere, the high level of volunteerism, and the excellence of its classroom instruction. They also gave us some improvement priorities, which will guide us in the continuous process of school improvement. By achieving this accreditation, Sacred Heart is recognized as an institution which meets a set of rigorous standards and continually makes changes to improve student learning.
