WASC - NLSA Integrated Self Study Document

Just completed working on the final phase of the development of the integrated self-study document for NLSA – WASC.  This project will result in a greatly improved accreditation process for school in California Lutheran schools seeking dual accreditation. The new document integrates the Lutheran faith component that motivates our schools to excel using research based standards and the excellent evaluative process that is associated with WASC. Kim Violette, Joel Wahlers, Kristi Flohra, Christy Wood and Rachel Klitzing have been faithful participants from the beginning to the end of this important project. These talented professional church workers understand and value the importance of self-assessment and goal setting associated with accreditation for our Lutheran schools. They have exceeded my expectations with their knowledge, energy and persistence. I thank God for their contributions and the way they passionately support our schools.

I will be sharing this document with the members of our national commission prior to our meeting in July. It requires the approval from the NAC. At that time Kim Violette and Joel Wahlers will be eager to answer your questions related to their work and the new integrated self-study document.

Reflections on my Visit to Hanoi

I just concluded a trip to Hanoi Vietnam. The trip purpose was to serve as a visitation team member for Concordia International School’s pre-accreditation process with WASC. I worked with the WASC’s Executive Director, Dr David Brown. It was my sincere pleasure to get to know Dr Brown personally and professionally. He is an enthusiastic proponent of using the accreditation process for school improvement. He is also a big baseball (Giants) fan and I enjoyed our conversation and musings about a subject of mutual interest.

Concordia International School in Hanoi is in its first year of operation with approximately 90 student grades PS – 7. They are located on three floors of an office building in a busy uptown location in Hanoi. They have significantly altered the business environment of the location and turned the place into a warm and welcoming school environment that looks and feels like a high performing school.

CISH has a credentialed and experienced team of administrators and teachers that are committed to providing a high quality of college preparatory education to the international community located in Hanoi. They are functioning in a communist country with the full blessing and support of the government. This provides many opportunities for witness and service by a largely Christian staff of dedicated teachers who share their love of Jesus through their actions and deeds first, and in word upon request by students and their families.

CISH is poised to grow and prosper in its role as a new and desirable international school of choice for expatriate families who are temporarily located in Hanoi. This new school will expand rapidly and eventually occupy a new and permanent location based upon the models already functioning with success in Shanghai and Hong Kong. It was a pleasure to visit a great new school that is poised for a fantastic future.

It was also a pleasure to work closely with WASC using their accreditation protocol. I grew in my knowledge and understanding of WASC expectations. Like NLSA, WASC is a highly engaging model for schools that requires self reflection, evaluation and goal setting. It has many similarities with the NLSA process. I am currently working with a task force in the construction of a joint accreditation document that will serve Lutheran schools seeking dual accreditation.  I have every reason to believe that our schools will be well served working with new process that ensures the Lutheran identity of our schools who are working with a WASC generated accreditation process.

This trip involved 64 hours of travel in airports and on airplanes traveling to and from Hanoi. I am deeply thankful to Bill Cochran for personally upgrading me to business class for the longest part of the flight. It made things bearable. The two legs of the flight in the economy section of Japan Airlines were the most difficult part of the trip. Four days of meeting people, observing, listening, learning, collaborating and writing made the challenge of travel well worth the effort. As with all accreditation visits, I took away far more than I left behind.  I look for great things from CISH in the future. In a short time I believe that their school will become the school of choice for expatriate families living in Hanoi. That will result in profound opportunities. I also eagerly anticipate a closer working relationship with WASC.

I will have much more to share about the trip and its ramifications at the National Commission meeting in July.

 2012-13 National Lutheran School Accreditation (NLSA) Exemplary Schools

The National Lutheran Accreditation Commission recently selected seven Lutheran schools in the United States for special recognition as exemplary schools. These schools demonstrated compliance with accreditation criteria that exceeded expectations related to the educational and ministry standards that are required for accredited schools. In addition, each school demonstrated innovative leadership through the implementation of Best Practices related to the academic quality and spiritual development of its students.

The following schools were selected to receive the award during the 2012‐13 academic year:

·         Bethany Lutheran School, Parma, Ohio, Ken Boerger, Principal

·         Faith Lutheran Junior and Senior High School, Las Vegas, Nevada, Dr. Steve Buuck, Chief Executive Officer

·         Hales Corners Lutheran School, Hales Corners, Wisconsin, Albert Amling, Principal

·         King of Glory Preschool and Kindergarten, Williamsburg, Virginia, Ruth McReynolds, Director

·         Loving Shepherd Early Learning Center, Golden Valley, Minnesota, Brenda Lovhaug, Director

·         Lutheran South Academy, Houston Texas, Sheila Psencik, Head of School

·         St Luke’s Lutheran School, Oviedo, Florida, Susan Hanas, Superintendent

With this honor comes additional responsibility. The leaders of these schools will now be required to share their “Best Practices” with other Lutheran schools. During the 2012‐13 school year, each exemplary school will prepare a print article and present webinar that are open to participation for all Lutheran schools. The sharing of Best Practices provides opportunities and ideas that have the potential to improve all of our schools.

National Lutheran School Accreditation, based in St Louis, Mo., encourages and recognizes schools that provide quality Christian education and engage in continuous improvement. NLSA accredits 655 Lutheran schools that have voluntarily chosen to submit to vigorous self‐study and evaluation. There are 2,382 Lutheran preschools, elementary schools and high schools in the United States.

For additional information contact NLSA Director, Mr. Terry Schmidt at terry.schmidt@lcms.org

AdvancED - NLSA Management

I have been given management rights for all of the Lutheran schools dually accredited  by AdvancED – NLSA. This includes any school that is jointly accredited with NLSA and SACS, NCA or AdvancED.

In my new role, I will work in the same capacity for our dually accredited schools as state agencies have functioned in the past. Therefore we no longer need to consult with individual state agencies regarding our dually accredited schools. It may still be beneficial forour Lutheran schools to maintain a relationship with their state agencies.

This should simplify many of the issues related to the way individual states conducted accreditation business in the localities.