If you’ve been to our Arches Academy website, you may have noticed an “AdvancED Accredited” seal. Read on to find out more about this important distinction!
What is AdvancED?
AdvancED is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that accredits primary and secondary schools throughout the United States and throughout the world. AdvancED is recognized by the United States Department of Education.
What does it mean to be accredited by AdvancED?
Accreditation is both a status and a process. It is a status, or seal of approval, illustrating that the school has met and continues to improve upon a set of educational standards or qualifications. These standards address key areas such as faculty qualifications, curricula and programs, student learning outcomes, student assessment tools and process, student support services, financial stability, and state of its facilities.
This is a voluntary process we undergo to assure our parents and students that we are a high quality institution. Once accredited, the school continues the process in order to maintain the high standards set forth and continually improve. This means we engage periodic internal and external reviews, consisting of self examination against the given standards and on-site visits from the accrediting agency, followed by the agency’s report on the continuation of the status, and areas for improvement. The process repeats every 3-5 years, and usually takes 1 year to complete.
Why is it important for my child’s school to be accredited?
Not all schools are required to be accredited. However, without accreditation, how do you know that your child is receiving a quality, legitimate education from a qualified professional organization? Accreditation is one way of achieving that assurance.
Accreditation is essentially a stamp of credibility, testifying that a school is operating at high levels of expectation and that it is continually improving.
Accreditation status helps parents judge how well a school is serving students and society.
Credits from an unaccredited school may not be accepted at an accredited institution, since there is not a reliable way to measure the validity, acceptability, or “weight” of the credits.
Find out if your child’s current school has accreditation status. If not, your child may not be receiving the quality of education they should be getting. Come check out Arches Academy to see all the amazing things we’re doing that have led to our “Accredited School” status!
UPDATE (May 2017): Arches Academy recently went through their latest accreditation. One of the auditors said we scored in the top handful of schools he has audited in over 30 years.
