Dear Parents and Guardians,
It is my great pleasure to welcome you back to the 2010-2011
school year. Our opening of school has gone very well. Our
ninth grade students did a fine job “orienting”
themselves to the building on September 1st and the rest of
the school joined them for classes on the 2nd. I am always
amazed at how quickly we can return from an eight-week summer
break and “get down to business” in a matter of
two days. It is a testament to the professionalism of our
faculty and staff and the commitment of our students to creating
an environment dedicated to learning that makes this possible.
My first letter for this year contains both an explanation
and a request for your assistance. This year the Belmont High
School community will begin the formal process of renewing
its accreditation with the New
England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC). This
organization is dedicated to maintaining high standards of
educational quality in the more than 2000 public and private
educational institutions in the New England region, grades
Pre-K through university, that make up its membership. Satisfactorily
completing the accreditation process means that an institution
has completed a ten-year series of rigorous steps that include
self-reflection, peer review, and follow-up activities that
lead to continuous school improvement. Accreditation status
through the NEASC is evidence that a school is providing its
students with a high-quality education. Many colleges and
universities will only consider a student for admission if
they have graduated from an accredited high school.
Belmont High School is currently in year eight of this ten
year cycle and must therefore complete the self-reflection
stage of the process. This “Self-Study” consists
of a full-year “look in the mirror” for our school.
Teams of teachers, support staff, and community members will
come together as “Self-Study Teams” to examine
the programs of BHS in terms of how well they meet the Standards
for Accreditation of the NEASC. The Standards are a comprehensive
listing of the characteristics of a high-quality school, including
the articulation of the schools core values and beliefs, its
curriculum, instruction, and assessment practices, the school’s
culture and leadership, and the support for the school by
the district and community.
This process of measuring the programs of BHS relative to
the Standards will take us the entire 2010-2011 school year
to complete. All of the school’s regularly scheduled
staff development time and the student release time normally
reserved for Parent-Teacher Conferences will be dedicated
to completing this task. The Self-Study Teams will use this
time to discuss and dissect the Standards, to gather evidence,
and to write an in-depth report of their findings on BHS’
performance relative to the Standards. This report will then
become the basis for the next step in the accreditation process;
a four day site visit to BHS by team of educators which is
currently scheduled to take place in the spring of 2012.
The Self-Study and Site Visit stages in the accreditation
process are designed to require the input of the entire community.
I now need to make my first request for your assistance in
the Self-Study process by completing an online survey conducted
through Endicott College. You can access the survey by clicking
here and entering the code P3135796 in the space provided.
You must answer every question in order for your answers to
be recorded. When you reach the last screen, click SUBMIT
in order to complete the survey. Your answers will be completely
anonymous. The aggregate data gained from your responses will
be used by the Self-Study teams as a piece of evidence in
their evaluations of BHS’ programs.
I thank you for your assistance in helping us to begin this
process. If you are interested in becoming more involved as
we move forward you can contact Susan
Griffin or Anne
Lougee, PTO Co-Presidents, who are coordinating our volunteers.
Your assistance in this process will help us improve the already
strong program that we are able to offer to the children of
Belmont.
Sincerely,
Michael M. Harvey, Ed.D
Principal
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