By Parnia Mazhar
Staff Writer
The Western Association of School and Colleges will visit Costa from March 23-25 to decide if Costa will receive its accreditation for another six years.
This is a mandatory process in which WASC certifies schools as being trustworthy learning centers. Costa received a six-year accreditation status with a mid-cycle progress report in 2008, the highest form of accreditation.
“What I am most looking forward to is the members of the visiting committee coming to see our students, teachers and administrators in action,” WASC co-chair Michael McAvin said.
As part of the accredidation process, Costa Principal Dr. Ben Dale, Costa WASC co-chairs Alan Zeoli and McAvin and various other WASC leadership members completed a five-chapter self-study report where Costa staff and students evaluated every facet of Costa.
“When we write the self-study report, we get to really hear from multiple perspectives,” WASC leadership member and English teacher Stacy Cabrera said. “We then take everything we hear, and put it together in a cohesive portrait of our school.”
A group of educators, including chair Nadine Norwood, will make up the team of WASC officials that will visit Costa at the end of March. They will monitor the school over a three-day period and will visit every classroom on campus to ensure that Costa is maintaining a high level of quality teaching throughout their visit.
“Students, teachers, staff, administration and parents are all invited to provide ideas, support, and insight when WASC visits, with the same goal in mind: to make our school even better than it already is,” Cabrera said.
After the WASC team visits, it will write a report about its recommendations and observations for the school. This June, WASC will notify Costa about the status of its accreditation.
“WASC has caused us to take an honest look at ourselves, celebrate our strengths, and create goals to address our areas of needed growth,” Dale said.
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