Congratulations to St. John's Christian Academy who recently received SCISA Advanced Accreditation. SACS Accreditation here we come!! Great job to our faculty, staff, students, and the entire SJCA Family.

Let's GO CAVS !!

I see alot of talk on here about accreditations and people thumping their chest because they have this or that. A principal that was going to the accreditation process once told me this story. These firms that give you their stamp of approval are businesses that need income to survive. If you are willing to jump through a few hoops for them to guide you through the process and have a nice fat check waiting for them in the end, you will get your stamp. The question is are the administrators at your school willing to jump through those hoops and write that check. Congrats to the Cavs and the growth of your school will open alot of doors for that community.

SCISA Advanced Accreditation has nothing to do with "jumping thru hoops or paying for it."
I do, however, understand your perception of accreditation processes in general and tend to agree with that.

SCISA Advanced Accreditation strictly relates to SAT scores and measurable academic standards. Our average SAT score was over 1100 with several in the 1200's.

It is a nice mile marker. However, I will be even more impressed with SACS Accreditation --
which is our next project.

Sorry to burst your bubble but SCISA accreditation has absolutely zero to do with SAT scores and test scores. Furthermore, every school in the S.C. public school system is SACS accredited( even the failing ones) so that ought to let you know what you are really achieving. The best measure of a school is the end result of your alumni. I know many on here that relate $$$ to it but it is the schools that they are attending and the after life that are the true measuring stick.-

quote:

Originally posted by Nimrod aka "Great Warrior":
Sorry to burst your bubble but SCISA accreditation has absolutely zero to do with SAT scores and test scores. Furthermore, every school in the S.C. public school system is SACS accredited( even the failing ones) so that ought to let you know what you are really achieving. The best measure of a school is the end result of your alumni. I know many on here that relate $$$ to it but it is the schools that they are attending and the after life that are the true measuring stick.-

My bubble did not burst. Please read the SCISA Standards for Advanced Accreditation and you will find: #22. Qualitative Standards. The school has a SAT standard of either a 1100 average split score of the top 25% of students that take the SAT or ACT equivalent (which may include the previous year's graduates.) Has Stanford Achievement scores of 60% of the national percentile or better on the total battery over four grade levels for the year previous to accreditation.

There are 22 standards that must be met with the biggest one being SAT score averages to achieve SCISA Advanced Accreditation.

These standards for Advanced Accreditation may be found at:

www.scisa.org/accreditation.asp

Thanks.

You are wrong. The SAT is by far the last one. In fact there are several schools that have said accreditation but post scores less than the stick on their own websites. If test scores were the measure then you would have less schools accredited. That could lead to inflated reported scoring.

Nimrod, which scisa school do you pull for again?

Congratulations to St. John's Christian Academy.
It is clear that SJCA is going to continue to grow exponentially. Once accredited by SACS, I wouldn't be surprised to see SJCA reach an enrollment of 600-700 students in the next five or so years.

To clarify, SCISA has two accreditations - regular and advanced. Regular SCISA accreditation IS largely writing a check and jumping through a couple of rather meaningless hoops. SCISA Advanced accredidation REQUIRES objective, qualitative standards to be met including a rather minimal SAT requirement (top 25% of test takers at 1100 is an objective, qualitative standard - it just isn't too difficult to meet).

St. John's should be proud of taking the step to SCISA Advanced accreditation. SCISA should get rid of regular accreditation and make the advanced requirements the requirements for accreditation period.

No offense to anyone here but people should know that many of these accreditations are a matter of will and money. If you are willing to do what they want and give the money you will get the stamp. I applaud SJC for moving their school forward especially to the football league. You will help our league in the future. Just be careful to do it the right way. Congratulations on your mark.

NR:

The premier accreditation for an independent, college preparatory school in the southeastern United States is the joint SAIS-SACS accreditation. It is a very rigorous process that does indeed require a strong commitment ("will") on the part of the school. But to suggest that the size of the check has something to do with it is silly. The school's contribution basically covers the costs of the accreditation team - it doesn't "make money" for the non-profit organizations as you suggest.

I can only assume that the principal you talked to was associated with your school and that your school has not been accredited by SAIS-SACS. I realize, of course, that there are still a handful of schools left in SCISA that would want no part of the SAIS-SACS process because they do not buy into some of the SAIS objectives (such as a racially and socioeconomically diverse student body).

St. John's deserves credit for obtaining the SCISA Advanced Accreditation and for seeking accreditation by a regional or national organization. I am not sure why you would want to "burst their bubble" unless your school is somehow threatened by positive achievements at SJCA. From your posts, it is pretty easy to deduce that you feel threatened by just about any positive development (academic or athletic) at any other SCISA school. Is your school struggling to attract or retain quality students or is it just your nature to be really insecure?

Is it your nature to attract students with promises of scholarships and college advancements just because they can play ball? Nobody from PWP needs to question anyone in this league's integrity on any issue. By attracting potential star students means hanging out at the local AAU tourney to see who is available then you are right I have no desire to do that. If enrolling minority students for the sole purpose of getting a merit badge on your uniform is your goal then you need to quit calling everyone else out on here for not agreeing with your views. Schools need to exist to educate students and prepare them ALL for the harsh outside world. Let's be honest, PWP has turned into nothing more than a prep school for basketball players. You have students from all over the lowcountry on your roster. You can call everyone names and question their motives all you want but perception is reality and the plain truth is everyone in this league knows you are dirty. Another news flash, I think the majority of this league has no desire to see it go the way you want it. We are not in the business of trying to be the high school league. Congrats to SJCA on their achievement and good luck in the future. Now go ahead and tell me how much of a racist bigot I am and how I am insecure about whatever school I support. Truth is there are very few schools left that are not mixed in some ways. We need more people like you to get the rest of us behind the times Klan members in line and show us the way of the world.

Pinewood has more than 10 SCISA master teachers (the highest award to any teacher in SCISA)! I know spartanburg christian academy only has 1 (working on more) but pinewood is an excellent school. No matter what the oppinion is of the way they handle themselves athletically one must appreciate how good their academic standards are. I think pinewood offers one of the best educations in all of SCISA maybe outside of heathwood or porter gaud! So I respectfully disagree with your assessment of pinewood.

Nimrod, I have read this entire thread and you are wrong. You belittled St John's accomplishment and then attacked PWP. Did your school not get its SACS accreditation or are you unhappy about something else?

I have never questioned the academic quality of PW and never will although some of your own did on here a while back. Probably disgruntled. I am sure that PW offers a fine education and their teachers I'm sure work very hard. Once again however it is the end result of where your alumni are going that I think is the true measure. In that capacity I think we are all alot more similar than WE think. Shiny buildings, outlandish tuitions, and highly awarded teachers does not a fine institution make.Although it is clear in today's society it is the perception that it does.

I am not meaning to belittle SJCA at all simply the process of accreditation. It is not what many think.