Dear Parents,
The staff here at St. Mark is writing a Self Study Report. Here is an outline of the process and why we are writing this report.
Improving Student Learning for Catholic Schools
The Western Catholic Educational Association (WCEA) works in partnership with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges and the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools to assess the quality of Catholic schools and their programs.
The six key self study outcomes are:
- The assessment of the school’s Catholic Identity.
- The involvement and collaboration of all shareholders in affirming strengths of the school and promoting ongoing school improvement.
- Clarifying the school mission, philosophy, and Schoolwide Learning Expectations (SLEs) for all students.
- Assess the Catholic Identity of the school, assess the actual program, assess the performance of students in relationship to the SLEs and curricular standards, continue dialogue about curriculum and student learning, and insure shared decision making among shareholders.
- Develop a plan of action which identifies goals to enhance learning.
- Implement goals and monitor progress of written goals.
The accreditation
process helps the school to identify the quality of education the school
has to offer. This is the
third self study accreditation process I have been involved in here at
1997 - 1998 Accredited for six years
2004 – 2005 Accredited for six years
2010 – 2011 Accreditation visit will be in the Fall of 2011
Please attend the meeting on January 27, 2010 to be part of this great process. Your input is an important part of this process.
The mission and philosophy and Student Learning Expectations are on the website for you to see. The students are also learning about these expectations in class.
Yours in Christ,
Kathryn Palmquist-Keck