October 2021

Measuring Success and the Journey of Reaccreditation Kendall Eley - Dean of Academics

At this time of year, all college football fans are deciding if “their team” is successful.  Coaches may measure that success considering many factors such as whether the team is “young”, injuries to players, the abilities of the players on their team, and the quality of the opponents that they play.  Fans usually define success merely by the number of wins and losses. What is the best measurement of success? This same question can be posed regarding education. How can school success be measured? There is a wide variety of aspects of education that can be measured to determine if a school is successful. Test scores, college acceptances, future success of graduates, number of students enrolled or interested in enrolling, and participation in co-curricular activities are just a few of the factors that schools use to decide if they are successful. While all of these considerations are significant, perhaps the most important measurement is the most difficult to quantify – evaluating the characteristics of a school compared to its own mission statement.

This comparison to oneself has been formalized into a process called accreditation or in our case, reaccreditation. The reaccreditation process is meant to be a continuous journey by which a school: verifies that it is achieving or exceeding certain standards that a large group of schools has agreed all quality schools should meet, conducts a "self-study" to help determine areas of focus for the school for the next 3-5 years, and hosts an onsite visit by a peer review team.

Accreditation does not compare our school to other schools. It is a process whereby we look at who we are and determine if what we say and what we do are the same. The entire process revolves around the mission statement of the school. Our mission should (and does) drive all decisions made by the school's leadership team.  Prince Avenue Christian School is currently accredited by the ACSI (Association of Christian Schools International), Cognia (formerly AdvancED/SACS), and SAIS (Southern Association of Independent Schools). Accreditation by all three organizations is unique as most schools are accredited by one or two, but Prince Avenue has determined accreditation by all three entities is critical for us to ensure that we are meeting all aspects of our mission statement.

All stakeholders (faculty, parents, alumni, students, and board members) will be asked to provide input during the reaccreditation process.  In the coming months, we will email you surveys requesting your input on a wide variety of school programs. Your opinions are critical in helping us shape the future of our school. While achieving reaccreditation is the process's end state, the journey is the most valuable part of this undertaking. Quality schools like Prince accumulate and document essential information while on the reaccreditation journey and use it to shape the future of their schools. The journey allows us to identify areas of excellence and those needing improvement to maintain our upward trajectory as we continue to seek self-improvement.  We thank you in advance for your assistance in our upcoming surveys.

Prince Avenue Christian School's mission is to partner with Christian families to provide scripturally based discipleship while pursuing excellence in academics, fine arts, and athletics from a biblical worldview.