Accreditation Site Visit Complete!

On Thursday, February 14, a visiting team of educators selected by the Western Catholic Educational Association completed their three-day site visit with the delivery of their Report of Findings.  The visit was the culminating experience of an eighteen-month-long process of reflection on our last accreditation term by faculty, students, parents, parishioners and supporters.   The team’s task was to verify our self study process in light of established Catholic school protocol.

While the final report remains to verified by a group of WCEA commissioners in May, by all indications, St. Madeleine’s received high marks and praise!   In all areas, our school was found to be an exemplar of parish school programs among the eight state region governed by the Association.   A true testament to the spirit and determination of this entire community.  As visiting chair, Dr. Cathy Muzzy from the Diocese of Orange, CA described us, “One in a million!”

Among the many notable observations in their report, the eight most significant accomplishments highlighted by the team were:

  • Madeleine Sophie School is blessed with a dynamic, loving, and collaborative faculty and staff who demonstrate Christ’s love and compassion to their students. The students and parents resoundingly reported that they feel their teachers believe in them, love them, and challenge them to be the best version of themselves each day.
  • Madeleine Sophie School has allocated resources and developed their inclusion program to include a Director of Student Life and Inclusion.
  • Madeleine Sophie School has interwoven the SLEs into all aspects of the students’ experience on campus which has a direct impact on each student.
  • Madeleine Sophie School and parish are strongly connected and work together in partnership to evangelize and deepen the faith life of families.
  • Madeleine Sophie School features a culture of commitment to the school’s inclusive mission and is lived out through all shareholders.
  • Madeleine Sophie School and parish work in partnership to make Catholic education affordable and accessible to all parish families through their unique sliding scale tuition matrix.
  • Madeleine Sophie School features standards-based assessments and report cards that are reflective of student needs and individual student growth.
  • Madeleine Sophie School has successfully incorporated a Walk to Math and Walk to Reading Program that enables their unique population to maximize their growth potential through targeted instruction.

The Report also confirmed the school-identified goals to be addressed during our next six year term.

  • Establish appropriate service learning opportunities throughout all grades in the school.
  • Develop and implement a Positive Behavior Intervention System (PBIS) to support social- emotional growth in all students.
  • Align the K-8 science curriculum and instruction to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)
  • Create grade-specific measurements to assess student progress toward SLEs.
  • Institute the framework for systematic use of assessment data to inform instruction and reporting.
  • Devote priority of time and logistical resources to work with parish leadership in developing the facilities with an eye toward expanded academic and extracurricular space. (Emphasis Goal in conjunction with development of new strategic plan.)

To view the Report of Findings and the entire Self Study Document, go to the Accreditation page on our website.