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SAES 5.31.2016

SELF-STUDY 2

(v.2.6.16)

SAES Self-Study v.2.6.16

Southwestern Association of Episcopal SchoolsSELF-STUDY 2 v.2.6.16

Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools

1420 4th Ave. Suite 29

Canyon, TX 79015-3748

Tel: 806-655-2400

Fax: 806-655-2426

The mission of the Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools is to lead, to nurture, and to unify Episcopal schools in order to advance educational excellence within the faith community of the Episcopal Church.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface…..3

Accreditation Timeline …..3

Conditions to be Met for Permission to Use Self-Study 2 …..3

Applying to Use Self-Study 2 …..4

Hosting the Pre-Visit and On-Site Visit …..4

The Visiting Team Report …..5

Maintaining Accreditation …..5

Instructions for Completing the Self-Study2 …..6

Self-Study 2 …..

Cover Page for Self-Study2 …..9

Table of Contents …..10

SAESAnnual Report …..11

Introduction-Head of School Letter I …..12

Compliance to SAES …..13

Episcopal Identity, School Climate & Culture …..25

School Plan …..27

Reflections and Conclusions – Steering Committee Report…..28

Summary - Head of School Letter II …..29

Documents in Adherence to Standards (v.6.16) …..31

Appendices …..36

  1. Parent/Guardian Survey
  2. Faculty/Staff Survey
  3. Alumni Survey
  4. Enrollment Profile
  5. Faculty and Staff Profile
  6. Faculty/Staff Information Form
  7. Academic Subject Assessment Form
  8. School Safety Checklist (v.6.16)

[Note: Should the school wish to use this Word document as a template for its Self-Study Report, please delete SAES’s instructions.]
PREFACE

Accreditation employs a process of evaluation that combines internal self-scrutiny with an external review by a team of peers. Both the internal and external reviews bring helpful and accurate observations, comments, and suggestions for the purposes of validation and improvement.

Self-Study 2reflects the Association’s interest in each school’s efforts to meet the Standards of the Association and to provide the highest quality school program. The Self-Study 2is predicated on institutional self-examination and peer review that together, provide an accurate picture of the school so it can continue to operate responsibly and effectively. This model offers a customized approach to self-study that will help a school improve its practices, and plan and implement initiatives for the next ten years. It requires the school to take a strategic look at school governance and leadership, operations, and school life. This model allows flexibility in the methods and structure of self-reflection as long as the basic goals of a SAES self-study are met in that the self-study is

  • Mission-driven;
  • Provides evidence of compliance to the SAES Standards;
  • Encompasses all aspects of school governance and leadership, operations, and school life; and
  • Includes representation from all constituent groups.

The On-Site Visiting Team uses this self-reflection to answer the question, “Is the school doing what it says its doing?”

ACCREDITATION TIMELINE – SELF-STUDY 2

YEAR 8Application for permission to use Self-Study 2, SAES Annual Report

YEAR 9Year of self-study, SAES Annual Report

YEAR 10Year of on-site visit , SAES Annual Report

YEAR 1SAES Annual Report

YEAR 2SAES Annual Report

YEAR 3SAES Annual Report

YEAR 4SAES Annual Report

YEAR 5SAES Annual ReportFive-Year Interim Report

YEAR 6SAES Annual Report

YEAR 7SAES Annual Report

YEAR 8SAES Annual Report, Re-application for permission to use Self-Study 2

YEAR 9Year of self-study, SAES Annual Report

YEAR 10Year of on-site visit, SAES Annual Report

CONDITIONS TO BE MET FOR PERMISSION TO USE SELF-STUDY 2

  1. The school must be in good standing with SAES membership requirements: up-to-date with dues, data submissions, reports, etc.
  2. The school cannot be an Applicant School.
  3. The school must have been accredited by SAES for at least its last (one) accreditation cycle, and must have gone through a successful cycle, either solely SAES or SAES and another NAIS Commission on Accreditation accrediting association.
  4. The School must have maintained full accreditation status, i.e., it could not be on SAES provisionary or probationary accreditation status anytime within its most recent accreditation cycle, except if it was an Applicant School initially given provisional accreditation during its initial accreditation.
  5. If the school is dually accredited by SAES and another NAIS Commission on Accreditation association and wishes to use this model, both associations must agree that this SAES self-study model is the primary self-study for the school and SAES is the lead association in the school’s process of self-study and on-site visit.

APPLYING TO USE SELF-STUDY 2

  1. If a school meets the conditions for Self-Study 2, in year 8 of its accreditation cycle, it must submit to the Director of Accreditation
  1. Head of School letter that addresses the school’s reasons for using Self-Study 2that includes a list of the targeted areas of focus and a rationale for each. Choices for areas of focus are the main areas of the SAES Standards.
  2. Documents

1)Annual Report for the current school year

2)Budget and chart of accounts

3)By-laws

4)Roles and responsibilities of Board committees

5)Enrollment trends for the last five years

6)Last three (3) years’ independent audit/review and management letter(s) (if applicable)

7)Most recent strategic plan

8)Strategic multi-year financial plan

9)Most recently completed interim report

  1. Permission to use the self-study model will be granted by the Standards Committee dependent upon
  1. Assessment of whether Self-Study 2 serves the school well
  2. Review of the school’s accreditation history,
  3. Quality and completeness of submitted documents,
  4. General assessment of the school’s overall sound and stable governance/leadership, fiscal responsibility and state of finances, and school operations as indicated by Annual Reports and interim reports.

HOSTING THE PRE-VISIT AND ON-SITE VISIT

  1. Before the school begins Self-Study 2, the school will host a visit from the Director of Accreditation or designee to provide guidance about the work of self-study.
  1. Two to three months prior to the On-Site Visit, the On-SiteVisit Team Leader will make a Pre-Visit to the school. During the pre-visit, the Team Leader will
  1. Tour the school;
  2. Meet with key school personnel and Steering Committee;
  3. Review (digital preferred) the narratives of compliance to SAES Standards and SAES Documents in Adherence to Standards;
  4. Check the progress of the self-study.
  5. Discuss arrangements for On-Site Visit, including team accommodations.
  1. No less than one month prior to the On-Site Visit, the school sends the self-study digitally and in hard copy to all visiting team members, the SAES Office, the SAES Director of Accreditation Services, and the Associate Director of Accreditation Services. Note: If this is a dual SAES/ISAS visit, the ISAS Director for Accreditation Services should receive a digital copy of the self-study.
  1. The On-Site Visit will consist of a 3½-day visit of a team of four to six members from accredited SAES schools and/or SAES Standards Committee members. The number of team members will not be based on enrollment, but will depend on the structure of school and details of the School Plan. During the On-Site Visit, team members will
  1. Tour the school;
  2. Meet with key personnel, constituents, and focus groups for in-depth conversations and observations to determine the degree to which the school meets the SAES Standards and to evaluate the School Plan;
  3. Review Compliance to SAES Standards and SAES Documents in Adherence to Standards;
  4. Observe classes;
  5. Assess the relevance and feasibility of the School Plan as it demonstrates a growth mindset for school governance and leadership, operations, and school life. In other words, will the School Plan help the school move forward.
  6. Conduct an exit meeting to share initial impressions and express appreciation for the school’s hospitality.
  7. Write a report that will be sent to the school upon completion of the On-Site Visit and the Standards Committee’s determination of accreditation.

THE VISITING TEAM REPORT

The report will consist of

  1. Table of Contents
  2. Visiting Team Member List
  3. SAES Annual Report
  4. Introduction (school history and description, description of self-study and visit process, etc.)
  5. Overarching Commendations and Recommendations
  6. Response to Episcopal Identity, School Climate & Culture section of Self-Study 1 section (if not imbedded in School Plan)
  7. Narrative, commendations, observations, and recommendations for each area of the School Plan.
  8. Conclusion
  9. Statement of Confidentiality
  10. Assessment of Compliance to SAES Standards, SAES Standards Checklist, SAES Documents in Adherence to Standards Checklist

MAINTAINING ACCREDITATION

Please see the SAES Accreditation Handbook for details on maintaining accreditation; however, this model of self-study requires a Five-Year Interim Report that consists of

  1. Cover page signed by Head of School and Board President;
  2. Annual Report;
  3. Head of School’s state-of-the-school letter, including health of the school and significant changes since the On-Site Visit;
  4. Report on the status each recommendation from the on-site visit report;
  5. Explanation of the school’s progress in working towards the priorities of the School Plan; and
  6. Submission of documents (current budget and chart of accounts, audit/review with management letter, School Safety Checklist, crisis response plan, multi-year financial plan, updated strategic plan, enrollment trends, etc.).

The Standards Committee reserves the right to require Special Interim Report(s).

INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPLETING SELF-STUDY2

The process for completion of the Self-Study is:

  1. Once approved to begin the Self-Study2by the Standards Committee of SAES, the Head of School shall develop a plan to achieve this project. SAES strongly advises that the Head of School not be the sole or major author of the report. Rather, a steering committee, which is under the direction of the Head of School, should be formed that includes representatives from the school community. Depending upon the size and complexity of the school, the steering committee may oversee report section subcommittees or the steering committee may provide most of the authors of the report. Ultimately, administration, faculty, clergy, staff, trustees, parents, students, and alumni should all have a voice and a role in the study.
  1. Conduct a constituent survey prior to starting the self-study. SAES will provide templates: Parent/Guardian Survey, Faculty/Staff Survey, Alumni Survey.
  1. The Self-Study 2 template (Word document) shall be downloadedfrom the association’s website, so the answers to questions can be inserted into the report.
  1. Each section of the Self-Study should list the names of the people responsible for writing the section and identify the chair (point-person) for the section.
  1. Self-Study pages should be numbered, and back-to-back printing is preferred. Section dividers should be labeled and clearly tabbed. The entire report should be bound and should be as compact a document as possible. NOTE: Printed reports sent to the SAES Office will not be returned to the school. Prior to visiting team members’ departure, annotated copies of the report will be destroyed. A digital version of the entire report should be created as one file.
  1. Documents in Adherence to Standards is a list of documentsmade available to the Visiting Team Leader at the time of the Pre-Visit and the Visiting Team at the time of the On-Site Visit. The documents must be organized in a “documents box” with one file folder per document clearly labeled by Self-Study section letter, item number, and document name.
  1. Mail a printed copy of the bound Self-Study to the SAES Office and to the Director of Accreditation Services no later than one month prior to the scheduled visit. Email a PDF version of the document to the SAES Office and the Director of Accreditation Services. SAES will send the digital version of the report to the On-Site Visiting Team. The school should provide printed, bound copies of the self-study for each team member, which should be available in the team workroom at the time of the On-Site Visit.

SELF-STUDY 2

  1. Examine each standard and describe in narrative form the school’s compliance with it (Compliance to SAES Standards). Include evidence and relevant documents (Documents in Adherence to Standards);
  1. Engage in reflective, analytic thinking about each area of the SAES standards (Mission; Episcopal Identity, School Climate & Culture; Governance; Organization & Administration;Teaching & Learning (Program & Professional Staff); Fiscal Responsibility; Facilities & Safety) as they relate to the school and use strategic thinking to develop a School Plan in two (2) to four (4) of these areas for how the school intends to approach the growth and development of each of those targeted areas. Identify short-term and long-term goals.
  1. In creating the School Plan, the school may draw upon various methods, such as but not limited to, strategic visioning/planning; strategic or multi-year financial planning; school-wide analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; data collection and analysis; benchmarking and environmental scanning (i.e., identification of trends likely to effect the school); a method created by the school; or any combination of these methods.
  1. For each targeted area (see #2) of the School Plan, the school must address these questions:
  1. (growth strategy) What is your goal/vision/plan for growing the school? Who are your customers? What are their needs? Is there a clear understanding of what the school should and should not do? Is this in consonance with the mission/core values/educational goals/philosophy?
  2. (operational strategy) What are the necessary systems needed to move from vision to implementation plan? In what ways will the school develop the systems needed to attain this goal?
  3. (resource strategy) To what extent do current human and financial resources serve this goal? In what ways does this goal require the rearrangement/reallocation of human and financial resources? In what ways will the resources be organized around school’s priorities? What people/teams of people will be essential to making this goal a reality? What resources (people, time, facilities, funding) exist, need to expand, need to contract to prioritize this goal? In what ways will all constituents be called upon to participate?
  1. (management strategy) In what ways will progress towards the goal be measured, monitored, assessed, and re-designed (if necessary)? What are the instruments needed to evaluate progress? Who monitors what? How are management decisions determined?
  2. (marketing strategy) In what ways will representatives of the school community be included in plans to achieve the school’s major goals? How will the school connect primary stakeholders to the school’s vision?
  1. Examine the school’s Episcopal Identity in one of three ways:
  1. Complete SCHOOL RESPONSE questions of the Episcopal Identity, School Climate and Culture section from the Self-Study 1 model; or
  2. Identify Episcopal Identity as one of the 2 to 4 target areas of study; or
  3. Infuse elements of Episcopal Identity in each of the 2 to 4 targeted areas of study.
  1. The Self-StudyReport includes
  1. Cover page signed by Head of School and Board President/Chair
  2. Table of Contents
  3. SAES Annual Report
  4. Mission statement
  5. Head of School Letter I– The Head of School should provide a narrative introduction that includes, but is not limited to, the following:
  1. A brief history of the school
  2. The school’s current mission statement, noting when it was last updated
  3. The school’s Episcopal affiliation
  4. The current location and physical description of the school
  5. The “state of the school”
  6. Prominent strengths of the school.
  7. Major changes that have occurred since the school hosted its last On-Site Visit Team.
  8. Recent improvements for which the school should be commended.
  9. Significant challenges that the school faces.
  1. Compliance to SAES Standards (narrative summary for each section of Standards
  2. School Plan w/ 2 to 4 targeted areas of study
  3. Episcopal Identity, School Climate & Culture section of Self-Study 1 (unless included in School Plan) [See #5.]
  4. Head of School Letter II - While the Head of School is an integral member of the steering committee for this Self-Study 2, the Head of School brings a vision and crucial interpretation of the school’s mission to the school community. As such, the Head is asked to complete the following summary report to be appended with the Self-Study 2. This report should include
  1. Mission congruence
  2. The school in the future: Major changes anticipated in the life of the school in the next five years and how these changes will these impact the future of the school.
  1. Steering Committee Reflection on revelations resulting from the self-study
  2. SAES Documents in Adherence to Standards (available to Visiting Team Leader during Pre-visit and Visiting Team at the time of the On-Site Visit)

COVER PAGE FOR SAESSELF-STUDY

School Name:

School Address:

City, County, State, Zip:

School Website:

School Phone #:School Year______

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE SAES MEMBERSHIP and ACCREDITATION REQUIREMENTS

a.The school shall retain its membership in the Association.

  1. The school shall be affiliated with The Episcopal Church (TEC) that is part of the Anglican Communion. The school shall be a parish day school, a school owned or administered by a diocese or religious order or group of parishes, or an independent school which espouses the faith and worship of the Episcopal Church in America as set forth in the Book of Common Prayer, and operates with the knowledge and consent of the Bishop of the diocese.
  2. The school shall be a non-profit institution 501(c)(3) or part of a non-profit institution.
  3. Implement employment and admissions policies, in keeping with its mission and culture, as well as its practices reflect the Episcopal tradition of respect for the dignity of every human being. The school promotes an equitable, just, and inclusive community, and its policies and practices shall reflect accordingly. Unlawful discrimination has no place in SAES schools. A school is expected to abide by a non-discrimination policy that complies with IRS regulations.
  4. The school shall be in, at least, its third year of operation.
  5. The school shall meet its SAES financial (membership & accreditation dues and fees).
  1. The school shall demonstrate commitment to on-going school improvement and fulfill the requirements of the SAES accreditation process.
  2. The school shall complete the SAESAnnual Report and participate in Data Analysis for School Leadership (DASL)as directed by SAES.

Completion of this section indicates that this Self-Study has been reviewed and approved by the Head of School and Board President