‘Warning’ Label Removed From Seymour High School

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges has removed its warning on the status of the high school’s accreditation.

Superintendent of Schools Maryanne Mascolo said Tuesday that the school district was notified Monday that the warning label had finally been dropped. 

We are very happy we are no longer on the warning list for our curriculum,’‘ Mascolo said.

The school was first visited by the NEASC in 2005 and, in its report, found that the school needed to improve its curriculum.

The district had to improve its curriculum in order to get the warning status removed from the schools accreditation status.

Mascolo said it took the district three years, of perseverance and diligence of staff and administration” to improve the curriculum. 

I’m very proud of all of the hard work everyone put into this,’‘ she said. We will continue to refine the curriculum in the future.”

Cathy Goodrich, principal at the high school, said the faculty and administration started working on this process in Sept. 2006 and finished in the fall of 2009. She said a total of 93 courses were addressed. 

It was a massive job, but everybody worked hard. This was a significant task but everyone rose to the occassion,’‘ Goodrich said.

She said that on March 1, a final report was sent to NEASC a document outlining the components behind curriculum development, its planning and implementation.

In recent years the district has done everything from creating a mentorship program to purchasing carts for laptops.

Janet Allison, a spokesperson for NEASC, said it is a private organization and does not comment on specific school accreditation. 

However, she said of the 670 schools it has reviewed only 20 or 30 are on probation.

She said a warning is a step taken before a school is put on probation or, in the most drastic cases, loses its accreditation.

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