School Accreditation
Adopted: 6-10-81
Revised: 12-14-05, 3-8-17
Philosophy—
The South Sanpete Board of Education believes that accreditation is a process that serves as the catalyst for improvement and in general upgrades the quality of education programs studied. Accreditation promotes evaluation, which continuously stimulates vital educational effort. The District shall participate in only those programs which are approved by the Utah State Office of Education.
The Board believes that accreditation is of value to the public for the following reasons:
- Accreditation provides justification for public confidence in its schools. It does not promise perfection, only that it has the resources and the leadership needed for ongoing improvements.
- Accreditation provides standards, which are measuring sticks for communities to appraise their schools.
- Accreditation permits the school to become a part of a regional league of good schools, establishing a credibility that goes beyond local confines.
- Accreditation gives testimony to its public that the school is meeting expectations and fulfilling standards that transcend local and state requirements.
The Board believes that accreditation is of value to the schools for the following reasons:
- Accreditation provides evidence of accountability . . . that the school uses judiciously the resources at its command.
- Accreditation demands and receives from the community the resources, which the school needs to accomplish its philosophy goals.
- Accreditation leads to the improvement of the school by its own self-efforts. To meet and to exceed the standards requires total school involvement and a stout commitment to educational renewal.
- Accreditation demands that the school undertakes a periodic evaluation, which is a stimulus for growth, improvement, and directed change.
Policy—
As directed by the Board, the District Administration shall assume the leadership role in encouraging schools to participate in accreditation and yearly evaluation programs.
- High schools shall cooperate with the AdvanceEd Association of Accredited Schools in conducting an annual review of staff, curriculum, services, and other educational areas of focus. Manti High and Gunnison High are approved to be members of AdvanceED and the District shall supply the funds to meet the annual dues.
- High schools, middle schools and elementary schools in the District shall cooperate with the Utah State Office of Education and utilize its standards and procedures in meeting Utah’s Accreditation guidelines.
- High schools, middle schools, and elementary schools in the District shall strive to meet the academic standards of the federal law Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) as well as the Utah’s current academic standards.
- All schools shall update their yearly “School Improvement Plans” and identify and focus on educational areas that need improvement.
The Board and District recognizes that all forms of accreditation are an endeavor to have each school and its staff to take a comprehensive look at the school's program, operation, and effect. The school determines how closely its purposes and philosophy coincide with its actual practices as well as the degree to which its stated objectives are being reached. Evaluation seeks to nurture and continue good practices and to remedy those in the evaluation process. All schools can be made better.