Visitation Team Approval

Many accreditation visits will be conducted this Spring. I wish to remind you that visitation team membership must have my approval. It is as simple as sending an e-mail that includes the name of team members and the date and location of the visit. Thanks for ensuring that our candidate schools are following our simple rules.

Learned many things in my recent visit with AdvancED in Atlanta. Two pertinent items relating directly to our schools are:

1)      Open enrollment is still available for NLSA accredited schools through June, 2012. This applies to any school currently accredited in good status with NLSA. After June, 2012 all schools will need to apply and work their way through the AdvancED protocol as an individual school. 

2)      March 3 is the date for the rollout of the new AdvancED protocol including the integrated NLSA-AdvancED document. A Lutheran school who is not currently accredited by either organization but who is seeking dual accreditation now should apply directly through the AdvancED website. In addition they must complete an NLSA application, making note of their designation on the NLSA application. Those schools will use the new protocol.

NEWS ABOUT NLSA

Sitting in the airport in St Louis waiting for the flight to Atlanta where I will be meeting with our good friend, Dr. Eddie Krenson. I am eagerly anticipating the rollout of our new AdvancED – NLSA integrated accrediting document. This will be a huge upgrade in the way we are able to serve our schools needing dual accreditation. It will allow Lutheran schools to use a single, integrated accreditation protocol to receive dual accreditation in 30 states. In Atlanta I will receive training that will allow me to train others to serve on validation teams. I plan to offer portions of this new training for the first time, next week in Milwaukee.

Other exciting accrediting news…I have been invited to participate in the WASC team review of Concordia, Hanoi. I will be traveling to Hanoi march 6-11 to participate with the leaders of WASC in that joint accreditation project. If all goes as expected, Concordia will be a candidate to become our very first NLSA accredited school in Asia. Praise God for the progress that He continues to allow us to make in serving Lutheran schools with accreditation.

And finally, we are making progress in building our new joint accreditation document with WASC. A group of accreditation leaders from PSD and CNH Districts have been spearheading the effort and we continue to move forward. It is hope that the document can be completed and approved for use by the beginning of the 2012-13 school year.  Many thanks to Kim Violette for encouraging our ongoing progress with this important project.

Mission Accomplished!

NLSA Exemplary School provides us with an opportunity to link great ideas and replicable practices with Lutheran schools all around our synod. We have concluded our amazing visits to the candidate schools who will be considered for Exemplary status. Visiting 7 great schools over the course of the last three months has required a great deal of preparation, communication, and dedicated efforts on the part of the schools who were nominated and the individuals who served as validators.  I want to thank the schools who were nominated and visited this year. They demonstrated hospitality, school quality and a passion for serving children and families effectively.  These schools shown like bright stars during our visits. We were amazed by what we observed.

I also want to thank every validator who took time out of busy school schedules to participate as a team member. NLSA was well served by your efforts and I hope that you will be able to apply many of the things we learned from these great schools in your school.

Next year’s group of exemplary schools will be selected in an on-line meeting on February 15 by the NLSA District Accreditation Commissioners. The official announcement will be made during Lutheran Schools Week in March. With recognition comes the responsibility and our new group of Exemplary Schools will soon be busy preparing to share their Best Practices with others using webinars and print articles during the 2012-13 school year. I can’t wait!