RUMFORD – After three years and thousands of hours of work, Mountain Valley High School has been taken off the warning list and has its full accreditation.

Principal Bruce Lindberg said the accreditation, from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges, came at a cost of about $30,000. The process began under interim Principal Tom Rowe and former Superintendent Danny Michaud, continued under former principal Curt-Randall Bayer and finished up under Lindberg and new Superintendent Jim Hodgkin.

“This is really a shot in the arm for the staff and the students to have this accreditation. It takes the pressure off the staff, board and administrators. It’s the gold seal,” said Lindberg.

The association’s commission commended the school for making substantial progress in one of its major sticking points – cooperation and leadership among the staff and administration.

The commission cites “significant, ongoing progress made by the faculty and building administrators toward establishing productive, respectful, collegial working relationships with the district personnel and the board of directors.”

Lindberg said newly hired administrators with fresh faces and fresh ideas most likely helped significantly in the commendation.

The commission also commended the school for: introducing new fine and performing arts courses, giving teachers regularly scheduled planning time, increasing technology and taking substantial steps under the district’s curriculum coordinator in staff and curriculum development.

With the warning status lifted, Mountain Valley High will join other high schools and colleges in a 10-year cycle for continuing accreditation.

The commission also asked school officials to submit a special progress report by Feb. 1 with an update on implementation of the standards-based curriculum. After that, as with other accredited high schools, the school must submit a five-year progress report on March 1, 2006.

That report is supposed to include such things as long-range maintenance plans for the high school building, examples of its assessment standards and assessment of the school’s focus on ensuring that all students use higher thinking skills.

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