SAN Vicente Elementary School gets another six-year term of accreditation from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which means that it is at par with other schools in the U.S.
SVES is the first CNMI elementary school to get full accreditation this year, according to WASC Commission Chairman John F. Fitzpatrick.
“This action was taken after a careful study of the Visiting Committee Report which noted many laudable aspects of the school. The commission is confident that your continuing efforts to improve the school will be reinforced by prompt attention to the critical areas for follow-up integrated into the action plan,” Fitzpatrick said.
Accrediting Commission for Schools Executive Director Donald G. Haught also lauded San Vicente for its latest achievement.
“Congratulations on successfully achieving a full-term accreditation. Conducting the in-depth self-study and preparing for the visit requires a tremendous effort. Maintaining an effective quality program for students in the face of today’s challenges is a truly commendable feat,” Haught said in a letter.
Other elementary schools in the CNMI are also WASC accredited but SVES is the first to get six-year accreditation—the highest term given to any school.
A team of education experts from the California-based WASC conducted an on-site four-day observation at San Vicente last March to determine if it is fit to be re-accredited. School Principal Janet Villagomez said the WASC team observed how they teach the students.
“In March 2002, they gave us a full visit, meaning, four days of observation and reading our self-study report. Making sure that what we’ve said in that report were really true. Based on what they saw and what they have read, they gave us a six-year re-accreditation,” Villagomez said.
She said the WASC accreditation is very important because its an assessment from education experts outside the CNMI.
“This is very important because we have an outsider looking in and telling us that we are a good school based on their criteria,” she said.
The principal said WASC was pleased at how SVES is doing its job to maximize the potentials of 691 students through various services and programs. SVES is also among the top schools that had successfully tapped federal funding to improve its services and programs to students.
For school year 2000-2001, SVES received a total of $187,597 in various competitive grants that enabled it to introduce new and innovate programs for the benefit of students.
