The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools has announced that two schools in Bamberg School District 2 have received accreditation status.

While nearly 20 years have elapsed since the district schools have been designated as providing a competitive education for its students, the SACS announced on April 27 that Denmark-Olar High School and Denmark-Olar Elementary School passed the quality assurance test.

Accreditation is a voluntary method of quality assurance developed more than 100 years ago by American universities and secondary schools. Education providers in traditional schools, distance learning and tutoring centers have used accreditation to demonstrate educational quality.

Accreditation engages the school community in meeting high quality standards, implementing a continuous improvement process and engaging in quality assurance through internal and external review.

"Upon my arrival to Bamberg District 2 as superintendent, I learned that our schools had not been accredited for almost 20 years. Accreditation immediately became a vision of mine," Superintendent Dr. Secaida Howell said. "The accreditation victory ... , coupled with many of our other successes, was a capstone of my career in education and tenure as superintendent of the Denmark-Olar Schools."

Howell said he is "grateful to our principals, staff members and to the chairman of our school board ... Alvin Maynor. Mr. Maynor's leadership, along with the support of some of the remaining board members, assisted in causing our schools to be successful."

Denmark-Olar High Principal David Yates said he was "humbled and grateful for all of the time and effort our teachers and staff have spent over the last two years preparing and working tirelessly to accomplish a major milestone in the most recent history of our school."

Denmark-Olar Elementary Principal Isaiah Echols said he, too, was appreciative of the work teachers, staff and parents did to help build a successful academic environment.

"I am grateful for all of the time and effort our teachers and staff members, along with working with our parents, have spent over the last year preparing and working tirelessly to accomplish this goal. Together we did it for our beautiful children. Most importantly, rigor, relevance and relationship occur in our classrooms, and our students eagerly use higher-order thinking skills," Echols said.

According to the Web site, www.advanc-ed.org, schools must meet the AdvancED standards to earn accreditation. They must have a clear vision and purpose; have effective and responsive leadership; have a rigorous curriculum taught through sound, research-based methods and collect, report and use performance results. The standards are derived from educational research and best practice.

You must be logged in to comment.