GILROY
– Gilroy High School received a shining imprimatur Tuesday from
the association charged with determining whether schools in the
United States provide a quality educational experience.
GILROY – Gilroy High School received a shining imprimatur Tuesday from the association charged with determining whether schools in the United States provide a quality educational experience.
A team of on-site evaluators from the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) left a mostly positive report with the high school Tuesday, paving the way for long-term accreditation of the school.
The report praises the school for a renewed level of teacher cooperation, enforcement of the dress code, improvements to the physical campus and a commitment to improving student writing skills, marking a sharp contrast between a WASC report from three years ago that was highly critical of the high school.
“I’m feeling good about the report. I think it was fair. They recognized that not everything in their action plan has been fully implemented over the last three years, but they also recognized we have put more focus on student achievement,” GHS Principal Bob Bravo said.
Accreditation certifies to other institutions and to the general public that a school meets established educational criteria and is achieving its own stated objectives, essentially giving formal credibility to the diplomas a school hands its graduates.
In 2000, the school was given a three-year accreditation by WASC, failing to earn the more sought after six-year stamp of approval. GHS is now eligible for a three-year extension and in 2006 can vie for the six-year accreditation.
Bravo expects to hear from WASC regarding the extension within two months.
GHS parent Diane Baty, who was interviewed by the WASC team during its two-day site visit, said she was “happy to hear what was in the report.”
“I think they liked the new writing emphasis at the school. Even in P.E. class kids are being made to write about a subject and that seems to be improving student writing skills,” Baty said.
In the report, the WASC team recommends that GHS better collect and analyze data relating to intervention programs for lower achievers. Bravo called this “the most important” recommendation by the WASC team.
“I think the district has given us the tools this year to make that possible,” Bravo said.
Among the tools is the Measure of Academic Progress, a test administered three times a year to show student progress. The tests allow educators to work on student strengths and weaknesses in preparation for year-end standardized tests.
Bravo said the high school is also starting to input student achievement data in the e-Scholar software program provided by the district. The software, Bravo said, makes it easier to track student progress and use that information to analyze which programs and teaching strategies work best.
