District wins nationally recognized accreditation

DARLINGTON — The Darlington County School District won a recommendation Wednesday for a prestigious new nationally recognized accreditation status.

“It is a really very fortunate day for Darlington County,” said Darlington County Superintendent of Education Dr. Rainey Knight.

District accreditation by AdvanceED brings numerous advantages to a school district, according to Dr. Robert Storer, who led the quality assurance review team that is recommending the district for accreditation. Storer and the team of nine professional educators — five from South Carolina and four from other states — spent four days this week conducting their review process in the district.

Storer, director of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement for the state of Kentucky, said after its review the team concluded that the district not only met AdvanceED’s quality standards but surpassed expectations.

“We looked at each individual standard, and we found you highly functional on all of the standards,” he said. “I’ve done 10 of these, and you’re only the second district that can claim that.”

Once the team’s recommendation and report are reviewed and approved by the AdvanceED Accreditation Commission, Darlington County will become the first public school district in the Pee Dee region and one of the first in South Carolina to hold the new accreditation status, earning a five-year term accreditation.

The district has been working toward gaining the national accreditation status for more than a year, district officials said.

“This has been an invaluable experience for us as a district and as a community,” Knight said. “Not only does it validate all the things we are currently doing for our students, but it also gave us an opportunity to really identify and examine our strengths and weaknesses. Ultimately, this will allow us to better serve our students and our community.”

The commission will issue a written report on its findings within 30 days after its approval of the accreditation recommendation, Storer said.

AdvanceED is the parent organization for the North Central Association Commission on Accredi-tation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) and the National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE). NCA CASI and SACI CASI are accreditation divisions of AdvanceED.

AdvanceED provides accreditation, research and professional services to 23,000 public and private schools and 4,500 school districts worldwide.

Knight said the preparation and the process leading up to the review were demanding. “District accreditation is a rigorous process that demonstrates to our students, parents and community that we are focused on raising student achievement, providing safe and enriching learning environments and maintaining efficient and effective operations staffed by highly qualified educators,” she said.

More than 100 people, including district personnel and the public, contributed to accreditation Standards Assessment Report, Storer said. In addition, the review team interviewed 350 people, including district administrators, school principals, school leadership, teachers, support staff, parents, community and business partners, students and school board members, as part of its review process, he said.

Storer said the team in its review operated from a district perspective and examined information in relation to the district’s vision, mission and beliefs.

Among the advantages of AdvanceED accreditation for a school district, Storer said, are that it builds the capacity of the system and its schools to increase and sustain student learning. It also stimulates and supports improvement and effectiveness throughout the system, he said.