GCSC receives highest school accreditation rating

Superintendent Dr. Lori M. Richmond announced Thursday that Greencastle Community School Corporation was officially recommended for Full Accreditation status by the Quality Assurance Review Team of AdvancED.

This is the highest rating available through AdvancED, a global educational review institution dedicated to identifying and advancing excellence in education.

"The teamwork of the entire GCSC staff along with parents, school board members, and community participants has made this success for our entire community possible," Dr. Richmond said. "We can all take pride in knowing that the education provided for all students at Greencastle Schools is well focused, of high caliber, and with a vision for continuous improvement as we forge ahead into 21st century learning."

The seven standards for accreditation are vision and purpose, governance and leadership, teaching and learning, documenting and using results, resources and support systems, stakeholder communication and relationships and commitment to continuous improvement.

The school's internal process of review and strengthening all standard areas began last school year. Assistant to the Superintendent Dawn Puckett worked diligently to lead the district through the process of identifying strengths and weaknesses to address.

Over the past six months teachers, administrators, staff, parents, students and community members have participated in an intense process, critically examining the performance and programs across the entire school district.

The resulting standards assessment was then reviewed by a visiting team of educators from across the United States. Each of these five AdvancEd members participated in three days of on-site interviews, classroom visits, and in-depth reviews of evidence and artifacts. During the visit, the team conducted 242 interviews with stakeholders, 27 classroom observations, and visits to all five schools.

As the AdvancED visiting team announced its recommendation of Full Accreditation status for GCSC, three special commendations were highlighted. GCSC provides diverse learning opportunities for students, offers exemplary communication with internal and external stakeholders and utilizes professional learning communities for staff development to affect organizational change.

They also noted that teachers, administrators and staff across the district are strongly commitment to students and their community's success.

"Board members, administrators, teachers and all staff of the Greencastle Community School Corporation should be commended for this stellar accomplishment as they continue to serve by providing strong academic success for students," Dr. Richmond said.