By Austin C.
Four members of the validating team from the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MSA) arrived at The Family Foundation School on February 23 to assess the school for re-accreditation.
FFS was originally approved for a ten-year accreditation by MSA in 1999 and applied for re-accreditation this year.
Lynn McLean, Associate Director for Public and Charter Schools for MSA, described being accredited by MSA as “a seal of approval” that means the school has met MSA’s twelve standards of quality, has identified goals for future growth, and has done sufficient planning to reach those goals. Dr. Sid Parham, Academic Vice President of FFS, said, “Participating in this process legitimizes the school in the eyes of colleges and universities. Without this accreditation it would be much harder to get the students into college.”
MSA accredits 1883 schools, mainly in the Mid-Atlantic states of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Washington D.C. It also accredits 234 schools overseas.
McLean came to assess the school accompanied by Bea Gavish, Mike Cohen, and Dr. Allan Blau who volunteered to help. The three volunteers all represented MSA accredited schools.
Jason Garnar, Chair of the history department at FFS, is the lead internal coordinator of MSA accreditation. Garnar prepared all of the documents needed for the re-accreditation process. These documents include information about current students, graduates, faculty, finances, facilities, health and safety, education, student services, student life and activities, plans for improvement, and a history of the school.
“Kudos to Mr. Garnar,” said Gavish, “He really did an excellent job.” Parham added, “Jason made me look like a great administrator, I said do this and he did.”
After visiting the school for three days, the creditors decided to recommend FFS for full accreditation. “While of course I am pleased that the team recommended full accreditation,” Parham shared, “I was also very pleased that they noted how all of the staff was dedicated to working with students and to the purpose and mission of the school.”
McLean reinforced Parham when she said, “I think the biggest thing I would say is how incredibly dedicated the staff is. We had an open meeting with teachers that was completely voluntary and we had more teachers come in than I’ve ever seen come before. That was really impressive.”
“I’m really happy that they could see our primary focus is doing what is best for the students,” expressed Dr. Ann Janauer, a chemistry teacher at FFS who provided assistance for Garnar.
“There’s still a lot of work to do, just different work,” Garnar pointed out. “Now we need to make sure that the action plans for school improvement are followed.”
FFS will reapply for MSA accreditation in 2016.
