According to commission chairman Thomas C. Beecher, the visiting committee report noted many laudable aspects of the school.
“The visiting committee commends the staff and the Public School System for their commitment to the accreditation process. The process was taken very seriously for over a year on a weekly basis and there was a sincere desire to answer any questions that arose,” he said.
According to WASC, the school’s areas of strength are “the teachers’ dedication to their students by working the entire school day, after school, and Saturdays, and by utilizing every opportunity to increase student achievements as well as the whole child development.”
It also noted the enthusiastic involvement of parents in the total school program, the commitment of staff to analyze multi-assessments and apply those results to curriculum changes and instructional strategies.
WASC recognized the school’s development of its Expected Schoolwide Learning Results, their incorporation into the report cards and the commitment of each child to learn these ESLRs.
The wide ranging co-curricular school program as well as the dedication of the entire staff to meet the needs of each child and the students’ positive behavior and attitude toward school and their awareness of the importance of an education are among the factors that strongly motivated the visiting team to affirm the school’s accreditation, WASC said.
SVES was among the public schools whose students got the highest SAT-10 scores in school year 2007-2008.
Its third graders were at 53 percentile which was the fourth highest. The fifth graders were at 47 percentile, the third highest, while the sixth graders were at 59 percentile, the second highest.
Although there were changes in the school’s administration, the accrediting commission said this “did not bear any negative impact on the strength and performance of faculty in continuing to demonstrate their collaborative work….”
A new school principal and vice principal were named last year following the retirement of the school administrator.
Among the concerns cited by WASC are the need to improve the school infrastructure and student safety.
The San Vicente school, WASC said, has dilapidated kindergarten classrooms and falling trees.
The school is now renovating its kindergarten classrooms for the opening of classes next month and funding came from the donations it received last year.
WASC also wants to see a “fully implemented technology plan that is embedded on a grade-by-grade basis in the instructional program and is monitored yearly.”
San Vicente school, WASC added, needs to have a professional development plan, a schoolwide assessment program, and a plan to involve more parents at PTA meetings.
