The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) has renewed the accreditation for Shelton High School for another 10 years, according to Principal Beth Smith.
Among the recommendations for improvement: fix fire code violations at the school.
“Pending fire code violations present safety issues and concerns for students and staff members,” the report from NEASC states.
The state fire marshal has been at Shelton High School this summer investigating possible fire code violations, according to State Police spokesman Lt. J. Paul Vance.
Vance wouldn’t say exactly what they were investigating, but said a report would be issued at the end of the investigation.
According to the NEASC report, the violations have to do with:
- installation of sprinklers in technology classrooms, maintenance shops and painting areas
- windows for rescue
- replacement and repair of fire stairs and doors
NEASC renewed the accreditation for 10 years, during which time the school will have to submit progress reports.
Accredited schools pass a vigorous academic review process, which shows the public a given high school is meeting educational guidelines, as checked by an independent review.
NEASC was at Shelton High School in November, conducting reviews.
The final accreditation report was released to the public this week, and Smith presented the results to the Board of Education on Wednesday.
Article continues after NEASC report.
“We feel that the commission’s decision confirms the results of the extensive self-study which our faculty and administration conducted for months,” Smith said in a statement. “We are convinced that the findings of our self-study, coupled with recommendations of the Commission’s visiting committee, will assist us in developing priorities for further improvements in the school.”
NEASC had several commendations and recommendations for Shelton High School.
Commendations
NEASC noted several items of success at Shelton High School:
- the mission statement is used and known throughout the school.
- Shelton High School has a variety of courses and extra-curricular activities.
- the school requires community service hours
- the high, and clear, expectations for student achievement
- the school leadership and focus on student learning
- visible and genuine celebration of student success and achievement
The NEASC report also noted that many classes required higher levels of thinking, and active applications of the knowledge. Examples included a project where students created a DNA model, another project where students danced like a blade of grass and then graphed the movements, and a self-portrait project where students evaluated and portrayed their inner traits.
Recommendations
Several of the recommendations focused on items affected by the budget cuts of 2010-11.
- reinstate support staff in the library media center
- examine the impact of “pay to participate” program on student participation in sports and other activities
- increase funding for professional development
- reinstate counseling services that accompanied in-school-suspension
The report also mentioned fire code violations at the high school, which as of the November visit had not been rectified.
- immediately address three remaining code violations cited by the fire marshal
And the report made recommendations on teacher professional develop and preparation time.
- increase scheduled time for teachers to meet and collaborate with each other
- increase professional development for teachers and staff
- creating guidelines to assess academic expectations
- develop ways to collect and analyze the data from those guidelines
The report also noted need to upgrade technology.
- “Students view the transition from middle school to high school as a technological ‘step back in time,’” the report says.
